McDonald says she is “drawing line in sand” after death threats

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald says she is “drawing the line” after a man was charged after making death threats against her.

On Wednesday (July 17) McDonald reported that a death threat had been made against her as well as Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

In the video, a man can be heard saying that Harris would be “getting shot by the end of the year” and added he would also shoot McDonald.

Richard McGreevy from south Dublin was charged by Gardaí on Thursday (July 18) and appeared before a sitting of the Criminal Courts of Justice on Friday morning (July 19).

McGreevy was denied bail, told the court he “never intended” for the TikTok video to go viral.

McGreevy posted the video with the threats with a mask over his head, but in other videos on his TikTok account his face, and subsequently his identity, are clearly identifiable.

Hade made reference to the ongoing anti-immigration protests in Coolock, saying the protesters should “petrol bomb the f**k out out of them”.

In a video verified by the Irish Independent, he can be heard saying “don’t worry, lads, I’ll be down to help ya, don’t worry about that. Yiz have more back-up than yas think.”

TikTok came in for criticism after the video was reported by users after it was posted on Tuesday evening, but was not taken down before being widely seen.

The video was only taken down after media outlets brought attention to the lapse in TikTok’s moderation policies, which TikTok said was a “mistake.”

McDonald said “this represents an escalation of targeted online abuse directed at me over the last year; it is totally unacceptable. “

“Ironically, this threat was made while I was hosting a discussion on the need for zero tolerance when it comes to violence against women and girls,” she said on Wednesday.

In an interview on Thursday, McDonald said “this death threat is an escalation in a vicious, sexist, misogynistic, racist campaign against me that has been ongoing for over a year and that has been politically contrived to cause problems between me and the working class communities we in Sinn Féin represent.”

“I’m no shrinking violet; I’m not a bit precious about people making all manner of commentary but I’m drawing the line. I’ve had enough of it.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris said the threats against McDonald were “despicable.”

Sinn Féin councillor for North Inner City Janice Boylan said the death threat was a “prime example of toxic masculinity.”

She dubbed the would-be assassin as “an angry boy whose needs weren’t met who turned into an angry man who can’t meet his own needs.”

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar discussed the threats made against him when he was Taoiseach, telling RTÉ that his personal security was bolstered in 2022 after threats were made against him by the far-right.

The Irish Mirror reported that the assassination plot was “advanced” and the people involved had begun the process of securing firearms to carry out the attack.

Varadkar shared insights from his time as Taoiseach, saying that the period of far-right led violence is “a phase that the Western world is going through.”

“There are a lot of people who either struggle to understand or oppose or can’t cope with the way the world is changing, economically, demographically, becoming more globalised, becoming more interconnected, and there’s going to be a backlash against that- but the future isn’t theirs,” he told Claire Byrne.

He said there were “a number of times” when he feared for his safety when he was Taoiseach.

He disclosed that on the night of the Dublin riots last November, he was advised not to go home and he didn’t, spending the night somewhere else.

He stated that he asked the gardaí not to brief him about security threats “unless I really needed to know for some reason” as he didn’t want to be distracted from his work.

“I think I was very fortunate that I was able to lead a relatively normal life during my time as taoiseach and in politics, now I want to lead a very normal life, and I’m kind of grateful for that,” he said, after announcing he wasn’t running in the next general election.

He said he spoke to other heads of state when he was Taoiseach and heard stories of senior politicians not being able to go out to restaurants as their presence would require the restaurant and city block they were in to shut down.

“Some of them can’t go to the shops, can’t go to the cinema and they really do live in a security bubble.”

The build-up to June’s local campaigns was overshadowed by threats made towards election candidates, with Fine Gael candidate in Artane-Whitehall Linkwinstar Mattathil Mathew saying that he had to take down election posters after he and his team were subject to intimidation and racial abuse.

In North Inner City, Green Party councillor Janet Horner revealed she was assaulted by a man while putting up election posters and was told “Dublin 1 belongs to the far-right” while Cabra-Glasnevin councillor Feljin Jose has spoken of the racial abuse he has faced on Twitter since becoming involved in politics.

In Ongar, independent councillor Tania Doyle revealed she “feared for her life” and she and her husband were attacked by someone who held anti-immigrant views.