A man who has been jailed for posting abusive messages about the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane Lilian Seenoi Barr also targeted former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Kevin Barry McIntyre received a five-month prison sentence on Friday, February 14, with district Judge Barney McElhom describing him as “a racist”.
In posts published in May 2024, the 31-year-old called Seenoi Barr, who is Northern Ireland’s first Black mayor, “a terrorist” and said she would be removed from the city “dead or alive”. He also made claims about “the blacks taking over”.
While McIntyre admitted to sharing the messages, he maintained that he had not intended to cause fear, saying he was “entitled” to express his opinion and that they were for “education and entertainment” purposes.
Judge McElholm, however, declared: “I wouldn’t inflict this man on the community,” adding that he “deserves no consideration from this court, nor would he get any”. He said the posts used “filthy, threatening, abusive language” and were in breach of the communications legislation.
Following the sentencing, Seenoi Barr stated that there is a “clear line between free speech and criminal behaviour”.
“If you cross it, there will be consequences. The sentencing sends a powerful and unambiguous message: those who use threats, harassment, or hate speech to silence others will face the full weight of the law.”
She added that the five-month jail term is “not just about justice for me, it is a victory for everyone who believes in standing up to hate, intimidation, and threats against public service.
“No one should face fear for simply stepping forward to serve their community.”
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It has also emerged that McIntyre targeted former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with abusive messages online, repeatedly referring to him as the “gay Indian” ahead of the March referendums last year. He accused the politician of “treason” and claimed that Varadkar wanted to remove the definition of “woman” from the constitution.
McIntyre also linked the referendum in question to migrants arriving in Ireland, stating that most come from “fundamentalist Islam” regions and they therefore wanted to treat women “as they do back in their own countries”.
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