SF councillor defies death threat call

A SINN Féin councillor claims that he received a death threat last week, warning him to stay away from an anti-water charges meeting.

South Dublin councillor Jonathan Graham (20) said the death threat was made against him on Monday evening last (December 1).

“I have received a threat to my life by way of an anonymous telephone call,

? Cllr Graham said in statement.

“This occurred on Monday evening last. The individual responsible labelled me a murderer and a paedophile protector. I was told not to attend the Right2Water public meetings in my constituency.

There is no suggestion that any member or supporter of Right2Water was involved in the alleged threat.

However, Cllr Graham has reported the matter to An Garda Siochána.

“I will not be deterred from my work on behalf of my constituents,

? he stated.

“Sinn Féin will not be halted in our determination and activism to pursue a programme of radical economic and social change by any amount of death threats.

?

Cllr Graham told Southside People that he intended to go ahead and speak at a Right2Water rally last Thursday.

“If we allowed ourselves to be intimated by this type of behaviour we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning,

? he added.

“Or course it’s worrying and I and the gardaí have taken it seriously but we can’t just back off because of these threats.

?

Cllr Graham said that as far as he was aware, this was the first time an anti-water charges campaigner has received such a threat. In recent weeks similar threats were made against Environment Minister Alan Kelly.

According to media reports, the threats against Minister Kelly’s life were made anonymously to both his Dáil and constituency office.

The gardaí are already investigating an earlier bomb threat against Mr Kelly and his staff.
Cllr Graham’s complaint to gardaí came in the same week that other threats were said to have been made against Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.

The threats were reported to have been made by those purporting to speak for the loyalist paramilitary group, the UlsterFreedom Fighters (UFF).