A self-described citizen journalist and YouTuber has become the first person to be jailed in a landmark case for online posts which risked identifying asylum seekers in Ireland.

Paul Nolan, 36, of Mount Eagle Square, Leopardstown in Dublin, stood outside the IPAS centre at St John’s House, High Street, Tallaght, on 22 and 26 August 2024 and questioned teenage boys, a young woman, and three middle-aged men who were staying at the facility.

Nolan goaded applicants, saying, “In Ireland, you have no right to privacy”, and posted videos of his interactions on his YouTube channel.

The four clips revealed their faces and were captioned: “Time to document these people ourselves”, “These men are so aggressive, if you’re fleeing war, take your aggression there”, “Cheeky fella these economic welfare scammers”, “I know what I’d do if Ireland went to war, pick up a weapon and fight”.

Nolan, a father-of-three, questioned a man who said he was from Gaza about why he was here and not fighting in his own country.

One clip featured a recording of The Irish Rover by The Pogues and The Dubliners, while showing some applicants heading back into the building; it also had a banner saying “Face’s [sic] we are after”.

The community employment scheme worker 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.

He also denied four counts under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, which states that, without the consent, it is an offence to publish in a written publication available to the public or broadcast, or cause to be so published or broadcast, information likely to lead members of the public to identify a person as an applicant.

‘Tissue of lies, wrapped in a shroud of pseudo-citizen journalism’

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.

He was given a ten-month sentence but had the final three months suspended on condition that he stays under supervised probation, completes an anger management counselling course, and remains away from IPAS facilities for two years.

The videos must also be taken down if that has not been done already.

“A disgraceful, glorious display of rudeness, hyena-like behaviour, and ignorance of the people involved”

His videos featured three middle-aged men, including one whose teenage sons, both minors, had been filmed and questioned by Nolan, along with another 15-year-old boy and his 22-year-old sister.

Judge Hughes described his conduct as repeated, premeditated and targeted.

He slated the accused, saying he used, “a tissue of lies, wrapped in a shroud of pseudo-citizen journalism.”

Sentencing, he brandished his conduct as “A disgraceful, glorious display of rudeness, hyena-like behaviour, and ignorance of the people involved.

Nolan attempted to convince the court that, in his role as an untrained citizen journalist, he had learned about a demonstration outside the building and went to investigate for his YouTube channel.

He knew the building had previously been used by Revenue, and 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% 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 and 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.

Cross-examined by prosecution counsel Oisín Clark BL, he claimed he still did not know what the building was when he returned to the centre days later to continue filming people.

Mr Clarke, in his closing speech, described Nolan’s version as “garbled, self-serving, and he contradicted himself”, and the barrister added that the accused had no credibility.

The defence pleaded with the court to acquit because it could not be established that anyone in the centre risked being identified; however, the judge held that the evidence was sufficient to convict.

Garda Inspector Nigel McInaw headed the investigation, which led to the examination of phone videos and bank records that linked the accused to the YouTube account.

Detective David Sheahan identified Nolan from CCTV evidence.

Spanish police are investigating the death of an Irish woman in Benidorm.

The woman – who died last week – has been named locally as Catherine ‘Cat’ Peckham, who was aged 65.

Police say they are treating the death as homicide.

Local media in Spain are reporting that Ms Peckham was originally from Cork, but had connections to the UK and had been living in Spain for some years.

It is understood Ms Peckham died after an incident in the Rincon de Loix area of Benidorm on 17 September.

Her body was taken to the Benidorm Medical Judicial Institute for an autopsy to be carried out.

Spanish police confirmed a 63-year-old British woman has been arrested in connection with the investigation.

A Spanish National Police spokesperson said: “We have launched a homicide investigation into the death of an Irish national and all possibilities are open at present.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance.

People travelling on Irish Rail trains will no longer have to declare their gender when booking a seat online, the company has said.

The change is to come into effect in the coming months and follows feedback from the LGBTQ+ community on how gender is represented on Irish trains.

A survey was carried out by Irish Rail, in partnership with Belong To LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, with a view to better understanding what mattered to these communities when travelling by train.

Sixty-eight adults took part, with more than half of the respondents identifying as gay, 27 per cent as bisexual, 12 per cent as lesbian, 16 per cent as transgender and 14 per cent as non-binary.

In response to the feedback from the survey, Irish Rail said it would remove all gender titles from its online booking system.

At present, passengers must select either Mr, Mrs or Ms as their title before entering their name when booking a ticket online. Now, they will just enter their name.

The survey was distributed on Irish Rail and Belong To online channels and was not run by an independent polling company.

As part of the survey, Irish Rail made a donation of €5,000 to the support group.

“This approach allowed Iarnród Éireann to gain meaningful insights into the experiences of LGBTQ+ rail users and directly contribute to the delivery of important services for the community,” an Irish Rail spokeswoman said.

[ Little change for passengers as new Irish Rail autumn timetable keeps services on trackOpens in new window ]

Some 71 per cent of survey respondents said they feel safe most of the time as an LGBTQ+ person on public transport, with almost 40 per cent saying rail was more inclusive than other transport options.

More than one third of respondents said they had used trains to attend LGBTQ+ events such as Pride festivals.