Man jailed after threatening Mary Lou McDonald and Drew Harris

A man has been jailed after making threats towards Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Garda (Irish police) Commissioner Drew Harris.

Richard McGreevy, 29, of Whitechurch Place, Rathfarnham in County Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of making a threat to kill or cause harm.

He received a prison sentence of three-and a-half years, with the final 15 months suspended on strict conditions, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, McDonald said although McGreevy's threats frightened her, she would not allow a "bully" to prevent her from doing her job.

The court heard McGreevy posted videos to TikTok on 16 July last year, in which he made threats towards McDonald and Mr Harris.

The videos were viewed thousands of times and reposted on several other social media platforms.

A defence barrister for McGreevy said his client was not a "political ideologue" but rather a "lonely keyboard warrior".

He acted "from impulse, not malice", James Dwyer SC told the court.

The Sinn Féin leader and the garda commissioner were not in court during the sentence hearing on Wednesday.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, McDonald said, like others in the public eye, she has become accustomed to "routine abuse, aggression and casual threats" online.

However, this was different, she said, adding: "The direct threat to shoot me, to shoot me 'for free', the open willingness to harm me himself, and the implicit willingness to harm me on behalf of another."

She said the video presentation was "bizarre, maybe even laughable", but the threat was "real and chilling".

"I was afraid and angry. My family were enraged and afraid."

McDonald told the court she had the right to live and move without fear, like any other citizen.

"The threat to shoot me 'for free' was the threat of a coward, designed to intimidate me and to encourage others to target me," she added.

Mr Harris declined to provide a victim statement, the court heard.

The expletive-laden videos were played for Judge Martin Nolan from a laptop.

In them, McGreevy said Mr Harris should be "taken to Dublin Castle" and executed.

He added the garda commissioner should be "shot in the head by the IRA".

McGreevy said Mr Harris was "next" and he did not care if "I get years for it".

The videos were posted following violence during a protest at a site in Coolock, Dublin, which had been earmarked for asylum seekers.

McGreevy said he was making "a couple of videos about what happened yesterday".

During interview McGreevy told gardaí he had never had a video viewed as many times, he did not expect it to go viral and he had taken it down.

Part of his letter of apology was read to the court, in which McGreevy described his actions as "stupid".

McGreevy said he "didn't intend to cause distress with his words" and expressed his regret.

James Dwyer SC outlined his client's background, adding that McGreevy had been using cannabis since he was a teenager but was drug-free since going into custody.

He noted McGreevy had an acquired brain injury and suffered physical abuse as a child.

He asked the court to take into account his client's early guilty pleas, expressions of remorse, and personal circumstances.

Imposing sentence, Judge Nolan said they were "extreme and frightening threats" to two public figures, who were entitled to their peace of mind.

He said the videos would have been "very disturbing" for the injured parties, who would have a "very valid belief that contributions like this poison social discourse" and "give permission" to certain individuals to behave in a violent way, "particularly to public individuals".

The judge said the threats made to Commissioner Harris were "odious" and noted McDonald's "gracious" victim impact statement.

He said the threats were "very serious", and while the court found "no intention on the part of this defendant to carry them out… nevertheless the injured parties were right to be worried".

He said McGreevy had a "long, complicated and sad history" and the court inferred on the day in question that the defendant was "frustrated with life and had certain complaints".