A 27 year old man has appeared in court in Killarney as the first person in Ireland to be charged under Section 2 of the Incitement to Hatred Act over materials he published on the social networking website Facebook.
Mr Patrick Kissane produced a page entitled ‘Promote the use of Knacker Babies for shark bait’, wherein he suggested:
“Instead of using animals for shark bait, they could use knack babies.
“Also as food at feeding time in the zoo.
“And for testing new drugs for viruses”.
In the sitting at Killarney Courthouse, he appeared on a charge of “actions likely to stir up hatred”.
The case has been adjourned for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions and will recommence on July 19.
Pavee Point was a primary complainant in the case and involved the Garda Racial and Intercultural Office from the outset. Information on the sites has been gathered from a number of sources, including Changing Ireland, the magazine of the Local and Community Development Programme, the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, the Irish Traveller Movement, Waterford Traveller Development Group and Kerry Traveller Development group.
Changing Ireland was the first publication to break the story.