Drunk man made ‘IRA’ murder threat to gardaí

A MAN told the gardaí who arrested him for public order offences that ‘the IRA will murder all of you’.

‘And he used the c-word,’ the court presenter Sgt Tom Mulcahy told Judge James McNulty when outlining the evidence against Aodhan O’Mhurchu (41) of Licknavar, Skibbereen.

Colette McCarthy, solicitor, said her client was pleading guilty to being drunk at the Inish Alainn estate in Skibbereen on February 2nd last; and engaging in threatening and abusive words or behaviour. Sgt Mulcahy said he was knocking on one door in particular, and causing a disturbance, and Gda Timothy McCarthy saw him ‘interacting’ with the residents. When asked what the problem was, the accused is alleged to have told the garda to ‘open your ears and listen to those c***s’.

‘I don’t know what he was complaining about,’ said the sergeant, while Ms McCarthy concurred that her client had ‘no idea what his issue was with the people in the house’. She said her client had experienced ‘a psychological break’ following the tragic death of a friend. ‘Gda McCarthy could see he was intoxicated, and he formed the opinion that he was a danger to himself and others,’ said Sgt Mulcahy.

It was as he was being processed at the station that the accused, who has 36 previous convictions, informed the gardaí they would be murdered by the IRA. Ms McCarthy acknowledged that half of her client’s previous convictions are for public order offences, but she said he is now taking a dual approach to his addiction and mental health issue.

Judge McNulty convicted the accused of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and asked the probation officer to assess this suitability for community service. The intoxication charge was taken into consideration. After the accused was approved for community work, the judge ordered him to do 200 hours in lieu of 60 days’ jail.