Anti-immigration activist Derek Blighe is to face trial over harassing a serving member of An Garda Síochána by video recording him and posting the video on social media.
Mr Blighe’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, confirmed to Judge Joanne Carroll at Cork District Court that he would be pleading not guilty to the single charge.
Mr Blighe (45), of Curraghavoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was charged in September that on dates between February 22nd, 2023, and December 4th, 2023, he harassed the named garda within the State, contrary to Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
Det Sgt Chris Cahill told an earlier hearing that the charge arose from an incident where the member of An Garda Síochána was dealing with a matter at a public event in October 2022 and was accosted by another man who has since been charged with harassment of the officer.
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The other man later accosted the officer as he was walking along Anglesea Street in Cork wearing a civilian jacket over his garda uniform having attended Cork District Court on February 22nd, 2023, in relation to the incident at the public event in October 2022.
Det Sgt Cahill said gardaí would allege that Mr Blighe filmed the incident where the other man accosted the garda and followed him for several hundred metres from Anglesea Street to Parnell Place, during which time the other individual made derogatory comments about the garda.
He said the State would allege that Mr Blighe live-streamed the incident on his Facebook page as the other man followed and verbally abused the garda, who was afraid to board a bus home at the Bus Éireann terminal in Parnell Place as he was worried he would be followed home.
The court heard allegations that Mr Blighe then posted several messages in April, August, October and December 2023 on his Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts where he made comments about the garda while reposting the original footage of the incident.
He said the State would allege that in a social media posting on December 4th, 2023, which Mr Blighe captioned with derogatory comments about the garda, Mr Blighe said that the officer was terrified and was now afraid to leave his home.
Det Sgt Cahill described the offence as “a 10-month campaign of harassment” and said the complainant in the case would say the filming incident and all the subsequent social postings had a negative effect on him and his family as it caused them considerable distress.
Sgt John Dineen told that earlier hearing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had consented to the matter being tried at District Court level on a guilty plea, but this week he said given Mr Blighe was pleading not guilty, gardaí would need to prepare a book of evidence for the matter to be tried at Circuit Court level.
He applied for an adjournment to allow gardaí to compile a book of evidence. Judge Carroll adjourned the matter and remanded Mr Blighe on continuing bail to appear again at Cork District Court on January 13th next year.
The founder and former leader of Ireland First, Mr Blighe has been an outspoken critic of Irish immigration policy. Last year, running for the party, he polled 25,000 votes in the Ireland South constituency in the European elections but failed to take a seat.
