Courts

Ireland First election candidate Derek Blighe found guilty of threatening behaviour

President of right-wing party and anti-immigration activist told hotel manager to ‘go back where you came from’

Derek Blighe was ordered to make a donation of €350 to the Irish Refugee Council and allowed him one month to make the payment. Photograph: Eddie O'Hare
Derek Blighe was ordered to make a donation of €350 to the Irish Refugee Council and allowed him one month to make the payment. Photograph: Eddie O'Hare
David Forsythe
Fri Nov 15 2024 - 19:08

An election candidate and anti-immigration activist has been found guilty of a single charge of threatening and abusive behaviour in the District Court.

Derek Blighe (44), of Croughevoe, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, appeared before Judge Colm Roberts at Fermoy District Court where he faced one charge under Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994. Mr Blighe is president of the right-wing Ireland First party and is a candidate in the upcoming general election in the Cork North Central constituency.

Court presenter Inspector Jason Wallace told the court it was alleged that Mr Blighe had engaged in threatening and abusive behaviour during an incident at Abbeyville House, Fermoy, Co Cork, on December 22nd, 2023.

Giving evidence, witness Christopher Gomez said that he was the duty manager at Abbeyville House on that day. He said that the building was being prepared as accommodation for asylum seekers and a protest had been taking place for several months outside the building by people who were opposed to its use as refugee accommodation.

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Mr Gomez told the court that he was alone in the building and had ordered an oil delivery from a local company. He said that when the oil delivery truck arrived at about 11am, Derek Blighe approached the driver and spoke to him. Mr Gomez said Mr 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 which arrived at about midday.

When the second truck arrived Mr Gomez opened the gates and the driver began making a delivery. Mr Blighe then began recording Mr Gomez with his mobile phone and the court was shown footage that he had uploaded to Facebook. In the video Mr Blighe can be heard saying to 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 that Mr Blighe live-streamed the incident which he said “really traumatised me”. He said that later that afternoon he downloaded the footage from Mr Blighe’s Facebook page and provided it to gardaí when he made a complaint. He told the court that he had been an Irish citizen for 20 years and had “never experienced anything like this before”.

Garda Dane Murphy said that when he visited the protest at Abbeyville House later that day the atmosphere was “borderline volatile”, he told the court that Mr Blighe made a caution statement regarding the incident on January 9th, 2024, but replied “no comment” to every question he was asked.

Giving evidence Mr Blighe told the court that he had spoken to Mr Gomez in the context of concerns about 56 single men being moved into Abbeyville House. He said he did not realise that Mr Gomez had been an Irish citizen for 20 years when he made the comments and he refuted any suggestion he was a racist. He added that he had taken down the Facebook post when he was made aware that “nasty things” were being said in the comments. He said the protest was “against illegal immigration as we saw it”.

Judge Roberts said he found the “black and white” attitude towards immigration “hard to understand” especially from an Irish perspective where generations had emigrated and “the vast majority of them illegally”.

The court heard that Mr Blighe had eight previous convictions including one for public order.

Judge Roberts ordered Mr Blighe to make a donation of €350 to the Irish Refugee Council and allowed him one month to make the payment. The case was adjourned until December 13 by which time if the payment is made Mr Blighe will receive the benefit of the Probation Act. Default will result in a €400 fine and conviction.