A self-described citizen journalist and YouTuber has become the first person to be jailed, in a landmark case, over online posts which risked identifying asylum seekers in Ireland.
Paul Nolan (36) stood outside the St John’s House International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre in Tallaght, on August 22nd and 26th last year, and questioned teenage boys, a young woman and three middle-aged men who were staying at the facility.
Nolan, a father of three, goaded applicants, saying, “In Ireland, you have no right to privacy,” and he posted videos of his interactions on his YouTube channel.
The four clips revealed their faces. Captions included: “Time to document these people ourselves” and “Cheeky fella these economic welfare scammers”.
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He questioned a man who said he was from Gaza about why he was here and not fighting in his own country.
The community employment scheme worker, from Mount Eagle Square, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court to engaging in threatening, insulting and abusive words or behaviour, under the Public Order Act.
International protection applicants have the legal right to anonymity. Nolan also denied four counts, under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, of publishing information likely to lead members of the public to identify a person as an applicant.
Judge John Hughes noted that this was the first time a prosecution had been brought for this offence, which is punishable by a 12-month sentence.
Nolan was given a 10-month sentence but had the final three months suspended with conditions. The videos must also be taken down.
Judge Hughes described Nolan’s conduct as repeated, premeditated and targeted.
He said Nolan used “a tissue of lies, wrapped in a shroud of pseudo-citizen journalism”.
Sentencing Nolan, he said his conduct was “a disgraceful, glorious display of rudeness, hyena-like behaviour, and ignorance of the people involved”.
Nolan attempted to convince the court he had, in his role as an untrained citizen journalist, learned about a demonstration outside the building and went to investigate for his YouTube channel.
He said he knew the building had previously been used by Revenue, and that undocumented, unvetted men of military age had moved in; however, he maintained that he was unaware it was an IPAS centre.
He claimed that he learned from a comment by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and from RTÉ News that 80 per cent of asylum seekers were economic migrants.
Witnesses from Palestine and Jordan gave evidence.
The father of two boys filmed by the accused said his sons were aged 14 and 17 at the time. Video evidence showed one of them was threatened by Nolan, who said he would break his nose because the teen had elbowed him out of his way.
He told an applicant approaching the centre, “I already got your face, no need to put your hand up,” and mimicked their accents. He narrated his videos, once saying: “These are dangerous people we have walking the streets of Tallaght.”
Nolan already had 47 prior convictions, including public order charges, 19 for drug offences and he had also been jailed previously for six months for dangerous driving.
