Newstalk presenter Dr Ciara Kelly has appealed to women affected by rape and sexual abuse to come forward.

In a series of tweets using the hashtag #irishweinstein, the Lunchtime Live host alleges a woman unknown to her approached her claiming a prominent man in the Irish media raped her 40 years ago.

Dr Kelly says she met this particular man twice herself - both times in a group setting.

She says he messaged her "immediately after the first meeting" through Twitter.

She says he was very complimentary, quoting: "You are v talented we must meet for coffee".

Dr Kelly says she declined as something about him made her uneasy.

"I was polite though I was friendly. Many many messages came I declined other invitations", she says.

Dr Kelly says she met him again at an event: "I spoke to him briefly but didn't engage - I was with friends.

"More messages came "who do you think you are? You're becoming a national joke" late at night".

She says this was followed by "please forgive me I don't know what came over me" the following morning.

She says she did not reply, but that "it went on for months".

Dr Kelly says she spoke to friends who all had stories they had heard - "Be careful he's violent - he beat his wife", she writes.

She heard from others that: "He had a car back in the day he offer girls lifts home - the passenger door handle was broken - they couldn't get out", she says.

She says when the messages from him stopped, she "half forgot" until this woman, who was allegedly raped, approached her recently.

Dr Kelly continued: "I believed her. Iv thought a lot about this and am shaking writing these tweets but I believe that women that this man raped her & likely others & I believe he beat his wife and had a car he gave lifts in... so I'm putting this out there ..."

She says others affected should contact her to "try to right this".

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