“I’ll not be intimidated or told by anyone where I cannot walk in my own city, least of all Parnell St, the street on which I was born”
The Irish Mirror has reported that the former Taoiseach made contact with An Garda Siochana after self-described citizen journalist Paul Nolan posted a clip to X.
“Thankfully, it is a rare occurrence. I took videos and have provided them to the gardaí,” he told the publication.
“I’ll not be intimidated or told by anyone where I cannot walk in my own city, least of all Parnell St, the street on which I was born.”
The video was shared to X with the caption: “Never let these traitorous animals walk the streets in peace Leo Varadkar your (sic) days are numbered.”
The 1-minute and 38-second clip, shows Varadkar walking from Parnell Street to the adjacent O’Connell Street, as he is followed and heckled by two men.
Video shared online by Paul Nolan of two men shouting at Leo Varadkar in Dublin / X
News in 90 Seconds – October 1st
Throughout the video, the men repeatedly call the former Fine Gael politician a “traitor.”
“You f***ing sell-out little traitor. Look at this fella walking around the streets, dirty traitor you,” one man shouted.
“You are a traitor, Leo Varadkar, you traitor you,” he continued.
“You shouldn’t be walking these streets, Leo…Look at him, you’re a traitor.”
While Varadkar largely ignored the men, at one point, he addressed them, saying, ” Enjoy your day, gentlemen,” before he took out his own phone and pointed it back at his pursuers.
One of the men continues to shout, “You’re a traitor, pushing Covid vaccines on people, you are a traitor.
“If there were Irish people around, I’d tell them all you were here, but there’s not because you invited them all into the country.
“You are a traitor, Leo, Leo Varadkar, you traitor. Pushing lockdowns and vaccines, what about all the kids that were killed?
The video ends with the man once again calling the 46-year-old a “traitor.”
Last week, Paul Nolan (36) with an address at Mount Eagle Square, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, was sentenced to seven months in prison.
He became the first person in Ireland to be jailed for online posts which risked identifying asylum seekers in Ireland had previously been videoed punching and threatening to cut up immigrants.
However, he has yet to start his sentence as he has appealed the conviction.
Paul Nolan
He had been found guilty of threatening and abusive behaviour and breaching Section 26 of the International Protection Act, which makes it an offence to publish or broadcast information likely to identify an international protection applicant.
He stood outside an IPAS centre in Tallaght on two occasions in August last year and questioned and videoed children, a young woman and three men who were staying at the facility, telling them: “In Ireland, you have no right to privacy”.
The Dubliner has 47 previous convictions, including 19 for drug offences alone, as well as convictions for public order and dangerous driving for which he received a six-month sentence.
Judge John 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.”
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison with 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.