Self-described citizen-journalist, Paul Nolan (36), has been jailed for 7 months for breaches of Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, and Section 6 of the Public Order Act 1994.
In the first case of its kind in Irish judicial history, the social media content creator, who has accounts on Youtube and X, was found guilty of one count of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and four counts of identifying people who are international protection applicants online.
The offenses took place adjacent to a protest which was being held outside an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) center at St. John’s House, Tallaght.
Judge John Hughes heard evidence of the accused having attended at the centre and filmed images of a number of residents, one of whom was a 14-year-old boy whose nose he threatened to break, after he said that the youth “elbowed” him in the ribs.
Giving evidence the accused said, he had “just said it spontaneous” when the youth “walked by and hit me” in his ribs with his elbow,” and that he had no intention of acting on the threat, saying it was “out of character” for him.
In the course of the images Nolan, a father of three who has an address at Mount Eagle, Sandyford, can be heard referring to a Palestinian man as a “very dangerous person”, and saying there was “no right to privacy in public” in Ireland.
He also told this man he had a “bad attitude” and that this would get him “nowhere in life”.
In the video, the accused could be heard saying, “I know what I’d do if Ireland went to war,” which he told the court meant that he felt the man should have remained in his home region to fight in the war.
Subsequent to the recording of these images, the asylum seekers involved made complaints leading to a Garda “harassment” case being opened. Of those involved, three were teenage boys, one young woman, and three middle aged men.
In one of the videos, which captured a boy who was 15 years of age at the time, Nolan wrote a caption saying, “Cheeky fellas these economic welfare scammers”, in which he filmed the boy and a number of others returning to the accommodation facility.
The boy’s sister, who the court heard has had her asylum application refused, gave evidence that no permission had been sought for her brother to be recorded or for the images to be shared, a necessary step in order to avoid breaching the 2015 act.
In one of the videos Nolan referred to those captured in the images as “these economic welfare scammers”, which he said in evidence was a reference to Taoiseach Michéal Martin saying that 80% of asylum applicants in Ireland were in fact “economic migrants”.
Nolan told the court, “I believe a lot of people are coming through to Ireland illegally, and not through the correct way,” saying he had heard the figures on RTÉ news.
He said that there was nothing “malicious” about the creation of the videos and that he had not “targeted” the individuals.
In the course of his cross examination by Oisín Clarke BL, prosecuting, Nolan claimed that when he had attended at the accommodation facility he had not known that it was a centre for IP applicants, which Clarke suggested was an “insult” to the court and all those in attendance.
Nolan called himself a “citizen journalist” saying that he makes videos of “public interest” and uploads them online.
In response to Nolan’s claim that he was unaware that the facility was housing IP applicants, Clarke said, “You’re not much of a journalist.”
Referring to comments Nolan made towards an Irish security guard at the facility, Clarke said,
“When you were calling the gentleman inside a fat traitor to the country, you didn’t realise?”, to which the accused replied, “I don’t know”.
Nolan claimed that he was not filming the individuals because they were IPAs, but because “they were out in the public”.
He claimed that he had only become aware of the fact after he was arrested.
Issues with witnesses
A number of defence witnesses were dismissed after a court Garda swore that they had been seen communicating in the body of the court, meaning that their evidence would likely be “contaminated”.
This Garda swore that one of the witnesses, Mrs. Sandra Morrison, had not communicated with any of the others.
Entering the witness stand, Morrison said she had “never known him [Nolan] to be violent or disruptive in any way.”
Asked by Clarke why he had published the images, she replied, “He’s a free citizen, he can do it.”
She said that the protest that was taking place at the time had been “against illegal unvetted male immigrants being brought in when there are so many homeless Irish people,” claiming that she and her husband are currently homeless.
“As soon as we found out there was families we ceased our peaceful demonstration,” she said.
Asked if the protestors knew the facility was being used as an IPAS centre, she said, “We knew they were foreign nationals, yes”.
The accused indicated to the court that he did not wish to call the remaining defence witnesses.
When Judge Hughes asked if Morrison had heard Nolan make the comment about breaking the youth’s nose, she said she had not but that some of the “lovely residents” of the facility had been “urinating out the windows on top of us.”
Ms. Lydia Doyle BL, defending, argued that the publication of the videos had not exposed the names or nationalities of the applicants, and that therefore her client had no case to answer, which the court did not accept.
Mr. Clarke described Nolan’s evidence as “self-serving” and contradictory, saying it was “garble” and that he had “serious concerns in relation to credibility”.
He said that it should, “be treated with as much common sense as it deserves, which is none.”
Judge Hughes convicted the accused on all charges saying that, while he had every right to protest his innocence before the courts, his evidence had amounted to a “tissue of lies wrapped in a shroud of pseudo-citizen journalism”.
The court commented that the behaviour of Nolan was a “disgraceful” display of “hyena like behaviour”, and that he was happy to “act as judge and jury” in respect of the validity of the individuals’ international protection claims.
Judge Hughes said that the accused had acted in “repeated, premeditated, and targeted” manner and that he had engaged in “mimicking” the native languages of those involved.
The court heard that Nolan has 47 previous convictions, 24 of which are for road traffic offences, 19 for drugs offences, 2 for breaches of the Public Order Act, and 6 others.
Nolan was sentenced to 10 months in jail on one charge with 3 months suspended for 2 years on condition that he stays away from all IPAS centres, engages with the probation services, completes an anger management course, does not make any direct or indirect contact with any asylum seekers, and enters into his own bond of €500.
The balance of the charges were taken into consideration.