*Natasha O’Brien.
“DON’T bite your tongue, you have a voice for a reason, so use it,” was the strong message echoed by Natasha O’Brien who was the victim of a violet and unprovoked assault in May 2022.
In a new RTÉ documentary entitled ‘Natasha’, the Limerick woman offers a candid look at her pursuit of justice and the personal impacts of the legal process.
Kilkee, the hometown of Natasha’s father Joe featured during the documentary and highlighted her emotional ties to the area. The documentary opens with her standing on the Kilkee Cliffs recalling a childhood memory of nearly drowning. “I felt like I was helplessly accepting that I was going under. There was nothing I could do,” she says. The same sense of helplessness, she explains, resurfaced during the assault.
At around 1:30 am on May 29 2022, Natasha O’Brien was brutally assaulted on the streets of Limerick after intervening when a group of men were shouting homophobic slurs at another person on a city street. One of the men, later identified as Irish soldier Cathal Crotty from Ardnacrusha attacked Natasha, repeatedly punching her in the face until she fell unconscious.
“Right hook after right hook after right hook, all in the same place,” is how Natasha recalled the attacked. She was left with a broken nose, facial swelling, and at a high risk of brain bleed due to a serious concussion. The assault happened just three months after the murder of Ashling Murphy and during the same month the Government launched its Zero Tolerance Strategy on gender-based violence. Yet, Natasha says, this context was absent from the court proceedings.
Crotty later boasted about the incident in a group chat on Snapchat, writing, “two to put her down, two to take her out”. He was described as an exemplary private in the Defence Forces. He initially received a suspended sentence. A decision that sparked protests and national debate about how the justice system treats victims of gender-based violence.
In January 2025, following public pressure and a successful appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Crotty was sentenced to two years in prison. Even then, Natasha admits she felt conflicted, expressing guilt over the impact the prison sentence might have on his life, and disappointment that no form of restorative justice was offered.
‘Natasha’ captures the emotional toll on her and her family, including her mother, Anne, and the strain placed on their close-knit relationship. Despite these difficulties, Natasha has since become an outspoken advocate against gender-based violence.
“I’d rather be difficult than silent,” she said on her determination to speak out. Her activism, she says, has given her a renewed sense of purpose. “To actually have a purpose to live now is insane so I’ll just throw everything I can at that reason, which is to do my best to change this stuff”.
While ‘Natasha’ focuses on one woman’s experience, it also serves as a broader indictment of the systemic issues victims face in Ireland. The 50-minute film also features appearances by other survivors of gender-based violence and includes footage from protests, courtroom scenes, and political meetings.
