Galway Man Accepts 4 Months For Harris Threat

Patrick Grealish at Galway District Court 11AUG24

aving plead guilty to making an online threat to Tánaiste Simon Harris on August 4th, 2024, Galway man Patrick Grealish was informed in December that he would be sentenced in the new year.

The threats were to kill or cause harm to the Delgany TD and his family, and came as part of a wave of protests and threats aim at Harris last year.

According to a report in The Irish Times, the 49-year-old from Lettermullen appeared at Derrynea District Court in February to learn his fate over the direct message he sent to Harris on Instagram. Judge Fiona Lydon handed down an eight-month sentence, with four of them suspended. Grealish has 70 previous convictions.

On Thursday, appearing at Galway Circuit Court, barristr Ernie Whyte, instructed by defence solicitor Michael Cunningham, confirmed that Grealish was now dropping his appeal against that sentence. Having made arrangements for someone to look after his 87-year-old mother, who has dementia, the defendant became emotional in court as he thanked the judge.

It was the Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU) who traced the account behind the threatening message to Grealish, and he was caught redhanded with the particular device used. Grealish accepted at his arrest that the device belonged to him.

In a victim impact statement back in February, Harris told the defendant to stay away from his family, pointing out that the words of people who hide behind a keyboard and do not reveal their identity can still cause real pain and worry.

“I would rather not be doing this,” the Tánaiste stated, “but I do think it’s important that the individual before the court understands the impact of his actions against me and my family.”

When it came to Grealish’s 70 previous convictions, 46 were for theft and 24 for road offences, with two suspended sentences handed down for the thefts involving credit cards. Judge Lydon suspended the last four months of today’s 8-month conviction based on an early guilty plea.

Closer to home, Dublin mother Sandra Barry was sentenced to six months in prison in December after sending social media messages to Simon Harris calling him a “murderer” and stating that she hoped “somebody does something to your family“. With eight previous convictions – mostly for traffic offences and one for drug possession – Barry’s messages to the Tánaiste on August 30th were described in court by her solicitor, Tracy Horan, as “three minutes of madness“.

Her solicitor also stated that her client had been on new anti-depression medication and had no recollection of her actions on the night in question.