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Irish Times
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Derek Blighe given benefit of Probation Act after making payment to Irish Red Cross
Anti-immigration activist Derek Blighe, who was convicted of a public order offence last year after he refused to make a donation to the Irish Refugee Council has now been given the benefit of the Probation of the Offenders Act after the money was allocated to another charity. Mr Blighe, of Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was last year given the opportunity at Fermoy District Court to avail of the act by making a donation to the Irish Refugee Council. A conviction followed when he failed to donate the money. At a sitting of Cork Circuit Appeals Court in March of this year, his then barrister Alan O'Dwyer said that it was 'purely a religious matter'. He said that his client's difficulty was with the position taken by the Irish Refugee Council on the repeal of the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution in relation to abortion. READ MORE Judge Helen Boyle told Mr Blighe that instead of paying €400 to the Irish Refugee Council, Blighe could pay €500 to Nasc . Nasc is an advocacy service which links migrants and refugees to their rights. Mr Blighe indicated his willingness to make the contribution. However, Cork Circuit Appeals Court today heard that the money had not been paid to Nasc. When the case was first mentioned this morning, Mr Blighe told Judge Boyle that his faith did not permit him to donate the money to Nasc arising out of their stance on the unborn child. When the case came back before Judge Boyle this afternoon, she asked Mr Blighe if he had the money in court. The 44-year-old said that he did, and she directed that he hand over €500 to the sergeant. Judge Boyle then directed that the funds be allocated to the Irish Red Cross . Mr Blighe represented himself in court. [ Ireland First election candidate Derek Blighe found guilty of threatening behaviour Opens in new window ] At a previous court sitting, Insp Jason Wallace said it was alleged that Blighe had engaged in threatening and abusive behaviour during an incident at Abbeyville House, Fermoy, on December 22nd, 2023. Witness Christopher Gomez said he was duty manager at Abbeyville when it was being prepared as accommodation for migrants and a protest by people opposing its use for this purpose had been taking place for several months outside. Mr Gomez said he had ordered an oil delivery from a local company. When the delivery truck arrived at about 11am, he said Blighe approached the driver and spoke to him. He said Blighe then told him 'the driver's not going to give you oil' and the truck left. Mr Gomez contacted the oil company and a second truck was dispatched. He opened the gates when it arrived and the driver began making the delivery. Blighe then began recording Mr Gomez with his phone and the court was shown footage he uploaded to Facebook in which he castigated Mr Gomez. In the video, Blighe can be heard telling Mr Gomez: 'You are a guest in this country. Shame on you. You should be ashamed. You will go down in the history books, you will go down in the sewers of Irish history. Go back to where you came from.' Mr Gomez said Blighe live-streamed the incident which 'really traumatised me'. He later downloaded the footage and provided it to gardaí when making a complaint. He said he had been an Irish citizen for 20 years and had 'never experienced anything like this before'. Garda Dane Murphy said he visited the protest at Abbeyville later that day and the atmosphere was 'borderline volatile'. He said Blighe made a cautioned statement regarding the incident on January 9th last, but replied 'no comment' to every question he was asked. Judge Roberts said he found the 'black and white' attitude towards immigration 'hard to understand' especially from an Irish perspective where generations of Irish people had emigrated and 'the vast majority of them illegally'.
The Journal
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Derek Blighe's appeal against public order conviction allowed after paying €500 to Irish Red Cross
ANTI-IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST Derek Blighe, who was convicted of a public order offence last year after he refused to make a donation to the Irish Refugee Council, has now been given the benefit of the Probation of the Offenders Act after the money was allocated to another charity. Blighe, of Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was last year given the opportunity at Fermoy District Court to avail of the act by making a donation to the Irish Refugee Council. A conviction followed when he failed to donate the money. At a sitting of Cork Circuit Appeals Court in March of this year, his then-barrister Alan O'Dwyer said that it was 'purely a religious matter.' He said that his client's difficulty was with the position taken by the Irish Refugee Council on the repeal of the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution in relation to abortion. Judge Helen Boyle told Mr Blighe that instead of paying €400 to the Irish Refugee Council, Blighe could pay €500 to Nasc. Nasc is an advocacy service which links migrants and refugees to their rights. Blighe indicated his willingness to make the contribution. However, Cork Circuit Appeals Court today heard that the money had not been paid to Nasc. When the case was first mentioned this morning, Blighe told Judge Boyle that his faith didn't permit him to donate the money to Nasc arising out of their stance on the unborn child. When the case came back before Judge Boyle this afternoon, she asked Blighe if he had the money in court. The 44-year-old said that he did and she directed that he hand over €500 to the sergeant. Advertisement Judge Boyle then directed that the funds be allocated to the Irish Red Cross. Blighe represented himself in court. Meanwhile, at a previous court sitting, Insp Jason Wallace said it was alleged that Blighe had engaged in threatening and abusive behaviour during an incident at Abbeyville House, Fermoy, on 22 December 2023. Witness Christopher Gomez said he was duty manager at Abbeyville when it was being prepared as accommodation for migrants and a protest by people opposing its use for this purpose had been taking place for several months outside. Gomez said he had ordered an oil delivery from a local company. When the delivery truck arrived at about 11am, he said Blighe approached the driver and spoke to him. He said Blighe then told him 'the driver's not going to give you oil' and the truck left. Gomez contacted the oil company and a second truck was dispatched. He opened the gates when it arrived and the driver began making the delivery. Blighe then began recording Gomez with his phone and the court was shown footage he uploaded to Facebook in which he castigated Gomez. In the video, Blighe can be heard telling Gomez: 'You are a guest in this country. Shame on you. You should be ashamed. You will go down in the history books, you will go down in the sewers of Irish history. Go back to where you came from.' Gomez said Blighe live-streamed the incident which 'really traumatised me'. He later downloaded the footage and provided it to gardaí when making a complaint. He said he had been an Irish citizen for 20 years and had 'never experienced anything like this before'. Garda Dane Murphy said he visited the protest at Abbeyville later that day and the atmosphere was 'borderline volatile'. He said Blighe made a cautioned statement regarding the incident on 9 January last, but replied 'no comment' to every question he was asked. Judge Roberts said he found the 'black and white' attitude towards immigration 'hard to understand' especially from an Irish perspective where generations of Irish people had emigrated and 'the vast majority of them illegally'.
Irish Independent
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Anti-immigration campaigner Derek Blighe given Probation Act after €500 payment to Irish Red Cross
Derek Blighe (44) of Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork had objected to making a donation, as part of the Probation Act process, to specific charities on religious grounds after citing his faith and issues surrounding abortion. He was afforded the opportunity at Fermoy District Court last year to avail of the Probation Act by making a donation to the Irish Refugee Council. A conviction followed when he failed to donate the money. At a sitting of Cork Circuit Appeals Court last March, defence counsel Alan O'Dwyer BL explained that it was 'purely a religious matter.' He said that his client's difficulty was with the position taken by the Irish Refugee Council on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the Irish constitution in relation to abortion. Judge Helen Boyle told Mr Blighe that instead of paying €400 to the Irish Refugee Council he could instead pay €500 to Nasc. Nasc is an advocacy service which links migrants and refugees to their rights. Mr Blighe indicated his willingness at the time to make the contribution. However, Cork Circuit Appeals Court heard that the money had not been paid to Nasc. When the case was first mentioned, Mr Blighe told Judge Boyle that his faith did not permit him to donate the money to Nasc arising out of their stance on the unborn child. When the case came back before Judge Boyle, she asked Mr Blighe if he had the stipulated amount in court. The 44 year old said that he did and she directed that he hand over €500 to Gardaí. Judge Boyle then directed that the funds be allocated to the Irish Red Cross. Mr Blighe represented himself in court. At a previous court sitting, Inspector Jason Wallace said it was alleged that Mr Blighe had engaged in threatening and abusive behaviour during an incident at Abbeyville House, Fermoy, on December 22, 2023. Witness Christopher Gomez said he was duty manager at Abbeyville when it was being prepared as accommodation for migrants and a protest by people opposing its use for this purpose had been taking place for several months outside. Mr Gomez said he had ordered an oil delivery from a local company. When the delivery truck arrived at about 11am, he said Blighe approached the driver and spoke to him. He said Blighe then told him 'the driver's not going to give you oil' and the truck left. Mr Gomez contacted the oil company and a second truck was dispatched. He opened the gates when it arrived and the driver began making the delivery. Mr Blighe then began recording Mr Gomez with his phone and the court was shown footage he uploaded to Facebook in which he castigated Mr Gomez. In the video, Blighe can be heard telling Mr Gomez: 'You are a guest in this country. Shame on you. You should be ashamed. You will go down in the history books, you will go down in the sewers of Irish history. Go back to where you came from.' Mr Gomez said Mr Blighe live-streamed the incident which 'really traumatised me'. He later downloaded the footage and provided it to Gardaí when making a complaint. He said he had been an Irish citizen for 20 years and had 'never experienced anything like this before'. Garda Dane Murphy said he visited the protest at Abbeyville later that day and the atmosphere was 'borderline volatile'. He said Mr Blighe made a statement regarding the incident on January 9 but replied 'no comment' to every question he was asked. Judge Roberts said he found the 'black and white' attitude towards immigration 'hard to understand'. He noted that, from an Irish perspective, generations of Irish people had emigrated and 'the vast majority of them illegally'.
Irish Examiner
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Anti-immigration activist Derek Blighe has appeal against public order conviction allowed
Anti-immigration activist Derek Blighe had his appeal against a public order conviction allowed on Tuesday on payment of €500 to the Irish Red Cross. He was convicted originally at Fermoy District Court following his failure to make a €350 contribution to the Irish Refugee Council. In March, when the matter came up at Cork Circuit Appeals Court, his then barrister Alan O'Dwyer said: 'It is purely a religious matter.' He explained Mr Blighe's difficulty was with the position taken by the Irish Refugee Council on the repeal of the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution in relation to abortion. Judge Helen Boyle adjourned the appeal until Tuesday for the appellant to pay €500 to Nasc, the organisation that advises migrants and refugees on their rights. And Mr O'Dwyer said the appellant would make this contribution. However, when the appeal was mentioned on Tuesday, Mr Blighe, who represented himself in court, said paying this contribution to NASC was against his faith because they had taken the same position on the abortion amendment. Judge Boyle let the matter stand at 11.30am and said she would return to the case later. When the case was called again at about 4pm, Judge Boyle asked Mr Blighe if he had the €500 in court. He said he had. The judge then directed him to hand it over to An Garda Síochána, which he did. Judge Boyle said: 'I am going to direct the sergeant to pay it to the Red Cross and thereafter to allow the appeal.' Mr Blighe said: 'Thank you, your honour.' 44-year-old Derek Blighe, Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, had, according to the evidence of Inspector Jason Wallace at Fermoy District Court, engaged in threatening and abusive behaviour during an incident at Abbeyville House, Fermoy, on December 22, 2023. Witness Christopher Gomez said he was duty manager at Abbeyville when it was being prepared as accommodation for migrants, and a protest by people opposing its use for this purpose had been taking place for several months outside. Mr Gomez said Mr Blighe obstructed an oil delivery to the premises and told him: 'You are a guest in this country. Shame on you. You should be ashamed. You will go down in the history books, you will go down in the sewers of Irish history. Go back to where you came from.' Video of these comments was live-streamed. As an Irish citizen for 20 years, Mr Gomez said he had 'never experienced anything like this before'.
RTÉ News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Tents belonging to asylum seekers on Grand Canal slashed
Up to ten tents belonging to International Protection applicants were slashed at a makeshift camp on the Grand Canal in Dublin. Volunteers who support the men said their sleeping bags were also stolen yesterday, adding that they are growing increasingly concerned about the men's safety. Volunteer Catherine Hall said there had been around 17 men sleeping in tents on the banks of the Grand Canal the previous evening, and the camp had been tidied away the following morning. Some of those who had been rough sleeping on Tuesday evening were offered accommodation yesterday, but Ms Hall said a group of around eight or nine homeless IP applicants returned to the site yesterday evening to their tents slashed and their sleeping bags stolen. She said some of the men told the volunteers that "some guys came around threatening that they had to leave" earlier in the day. Ms Hall said the IP applicants had to sleep there again as there was nowhere else for them to go. However, she said they did not get much sleep, "because they were pretty anxious about the whole thing". She said there have been incidents of threats and intimidation before. She added that there are anti-immigration groups who have been "setting up these patrols, and they're basically looking to try and find where the guys are camping" and posting these videos on social media. Chief Executive of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson said the charity is "deeply concerned about the situation of people seeking protection who are sleeping rough". "In recent weeks, there has been a tangible increase in risk: tents have been slashed, camping spaces fenced off, and social media posts have circulated showing tents being filmed, accompanied by inflammatory commentary and threatening symbols such as flames," Mr Henderson said. "In effect, the system requires people to sleep rough in order to demonstrate eligibility for accommodation, exposing them to serious harm. It also places enormous pressure on volunteers, who have supported people almost continuously for over two years," Mr Henderson added. He stressed that figures released in response to a parliamentary question show that 1,400 people were refused accommodation upon arrival in the first four months of this year. "While some may have been accommodated later, the fact remains: sleeping rough is never safe. We again call on the government to fulfil its legal obligations and support those seeking protection," he said.
