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MMA fighter Conor McGregor loses appeal in civil rape case

Conor McGregor has lost his civil jury appeal against a finding that he sexually assaulted a woman.

In November, McGregor was ordered to pay £206,000 in damages plus costs to Nikita Hand, who accused him of raping her in a hotel in Dublin in 2018.
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At the beginning of the process, Ireland's Court of Appeal was told that McGregor had withdrawn an application to have new evidence entered at the appeal.

The proposed evidence was from a couple, Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins, who are former neighbours of Nikita Hand.

A previous preliminary hearing was told that they claimed to have witnessed a row between Ms Hand and her former partner Stephen Redmond in December 2018.

The court heard McGregor believed the new evidence suggested that bruising on Nikita Hand's body could have been caused by her former partner.

In an affidavit, Ms Hand had described the allegations as untrue and lies.

The senior judges said it was "somewhat mysterious" that what they described as an "important and contentious" part of the appeal had been "cast aside".

They awarded Ms Hand costs in relation to this aspect of the case.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6n04xjj1qo

Gardaí launch criminal investigation into perjury allegations in Conor McGregor rape case

Gardaí have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of perjury against a couple who were to be star witnesses in Conor McGregor’s failed appeal of Nikita Hand’s successful civil rape case.

Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins, from Ballyfermot, were to give new evidence at the mixed martial arts fighter’s appeal hearing last month but their evidence was dramatically withdrawn on the morning they were due to testify.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-launch-criminal-investigation-into-perjury-allegations-in-conor-mcgregor-rape-case/a1979056946.html

On 17 March 2025, McGregor visited the White House in Washington DC at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, for a Saint Patrick's Day event. During the visit, McGregor claimed that Ireland was "on the cusp of losing its Irishness" due to an "illegal immigration racket." His comments were condemned by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who stated that they were "wrong" and did not reflect the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day or the values of the Irish people. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, echoed Martin's remarks. The leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Colum Eastwood, said "Conor McGregor has never been elected to anything, he doesn't represent the Irish people. In fact, we're all pretty embarrassed by him." Matthew O'Toole of the SDLP said the meeting was an "insult to the island of Ireland" and "deeply depressing", and that McGregor was an "appalling individual" and "beyond the pale".[274] During the visit, he announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the 2025 Irish presidential election.[275]

The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Morrogh, said the meeting between McGregor and Trump was shocking since a jury had recently found that McGregor had committed rape. Human rights lawyer and former head of the Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, said "The other thing that occurred to me, though, was the enormous sense of entitlement that Mr McGregor seems to feel. I was thinking of Nikita Hand with judgment of her peers in the jury that Mr McGregor was civilly liable for the sexual assault on her, and just thinking that that's the reality for an awful lot of people who are victims of sexual abuse – that even after a court judgment, even after hearing the level of hurt and harm that Nikita Hand suffered, that she and others like her have to, in some ways, put up with the reality that in the community sometimes the message just isn't getting through to those who are actually found by court of law to be liable along the way." Referring to Trump and McGregor, Ruth Coppinger TD said in Dáil Éireann, "two rapists met each other in the White House". During the meeting, Trump described McGregor as "inspiring" and "fantastic".[274][276][277][278][279]

In an April poll by the Sunday Independent, 7% of those polled said they would vote for McGregor in a presidential election, while 90% said they would not. 69% of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a TD or councillor if they nominated McGregor to run. 78% said Donald Trump disrespected Ireland by inviting McGregor to the White House.[280]

On August 4, 2025, McGregor launched an online petition, hoping to generate enough public support to pressure a change in the current electoral rules. His petition is aimed to circumvent the Irish constitution and allow for a direct popular vote on who can appear on the ballot. Under Ireland's constitution, a presidential candidate must be nominated by least 20 members of the Oireachtas, or by four local authorities.[281]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conor_McGregor#2025_Irish_presidential_run_and_White_House_visit