A man who made threats towards Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, with the final 15 months suspended on strict conditions.
Richard McGreevy, 29, of Whitechurch Place, Rathfarnham in Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of making a threat to kill or cause harm.
The maximum available sentence for this offence is ten years.
Ms McDonald said she was afraid after a "threat of a coward" to shoot her, but would not allow any "bully" to prevent her doing her job.
She made the comments in a victim impact statement read to the court during the sentence hearing of McGreevy.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that McGreevy posted videos to TikTok on 16 July last year in which he made threats towards Ms McDonald and Mr Harris.
These videos were viewed thousands of times on TikTok, and were also reposted to Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, the court was told.
James Dwyer SC, defending, said his client is not a "political idealogue", but rather an isolated, "lonely keyboard warrior" who acted "from impulse, not malice", and failed to realise the impact of his actions.
The Sinn Féin leader and the Garda Commissioner were not in court during the sentence hearing.
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In a victim impact statement read to the court by Antonia Boyle BL prosecuting, Ms McDonald said like others in the public eye, she had become accustomed to "routine abuse, aggression and causal threats" on social media.
But, this was different.
"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."
She said she had the right to live and move without fear, like any other citizen, and this right goes to the core of her personal freedom and her ability to carry out her democratic role.
"The threat to shoot me 'for free' was the threat of a coward, designed to intimidate me and to encourage others to target me."
Ms McDonald said the threat caused her distress, anxiety and anger but she added, "I will not allow any bully to stop me from doing my job".
Mr Harris declined to provide a victim impact statement, the court was told, as his view was his statement of complaint captured the impact on him.
The clips were played for Judge Martin Nolan from a laptop.
In them, McGreevy said"Drew Harris, you should be f****** taken out", "dragged up to Dolphin's Barn", "taken to Dublin Castle" and executed.
He said the Garda Commissioner should be "shot in the head by the IRA, I'm not even joking...F*** you Drew Harris, you're next, you’re getting it, I don’t give a f*** if I get years for it".
McGreevy said "Drew Harris, I'm coming for you... I'll rip your f****** head off".
He also described Mr Harris as an "English bastard", "English speccy-eyed bastard", and "little p****".
McGreevy said he was making "a couple of videos about what happened yesterday".
"F*** Drew Harris, he’d be getting shot, f****** blasted."
"See Mary Lou, I’ll shoot her myself for free, I'll do her for free. F****** little rats."
McGreevy was arrested and after caution, he said "this is about those f****** posts to kill Mary Lou. They were f****** stupid. I was expecting you".
During interview, he told gardaí he had never had a video that had been viewed so many times, that he did not mean for it to go viral and he had taken it down.
McGreevy expressed shame and remorse, saying he did not mean for anyone to feel hurt or threatened, but had wanted to rant, before acknowledging that he should not have said those things.
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.
Defence counsel outlined his client's background, adding that McGreevy has been using cannabis since he was a teenager but is drug-free since going into custody.
Mr Dwyer noted McGreevy has an acquired brain injury and suffered physical abuse as a child at the hands of a relative.
Counsel asked the court to take into account his client's early guilty pleas, expressions of remorse, and personal circumstances.
Imposing sentence, Judge Nolan said these 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 certain violent way, particularly to public individuals".
The judge said the threats made to Mr Harris were "odious" and noted Ms 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 about the contents [of these threats]".
He said McGreevy has 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".
Having considered McGreevy's background and the mitigation, Judge Nolan imposed a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, with the final 15 months suspended on strict conditions.
