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Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Irish Times
Former AGSI chief ‘profoundly distressed' by social media attacks, court hears
Former general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants & Inspectors (Agsi) , Antoinette Cunningham , has revealed in court how 'blatantly false, vile social media attacks' left her feeling profound distress and helplessness. Andrew McGovern (38), of School Lane, Rathowen, Co Westmeath, was remanded on continuing bail pending sentencing by Judge Bernadette Owens at Mullingar District Court on Thursday. McGovern pleaded guilty to a charge stating that he 'did distribute or publish a threatening or grossly offensive communication about Antoinette Cunningham with intent to cause harm'. The messages were posted on Twitter , now called X . The offence occurred in the Mullingar area from March 16th to March 30th, 2023, while Ms Cunningham was still Agsi head. The charge under section 4 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 carries a possible six-month sentence at District Court level. McGovern will be sentenced on September 4th. Det Sgt Alan Farrelly of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation told the court that the first set of five direct messages was sent privately to the victim and made claims that she was the accused's godmother. Ms McGovern claimed his father had told him this before he died and that he remembered her when he was a toddler in the 1990s. Ms Cunningham ignored the messages until she learned of a second set of 'more sinister' posts on McGovern's Twitter account about her. The posts mentioned a person connected to her and were publicly accessible. They contained unfounded claims that allegations had been 'all swept under the carpet' and that McGovern's life had been ruined. In a victim impact statement, Ms Cunningham spoke out at her dismay at seeing 'blatantly false, vile, and completely shocking allegations' about her on social media. They mentioned her job, which she believed was an effort to 'damage and discredit me'. Describing the posts as 'a demonstration of the very toxic side of social media', she highlighted how the attacks violated her privacy, 'and my sense of personal wellbeing and peace of mind was fractured as a result of what happened'. The court heard she could not fathom why somebody would choose to post disturbing messages about her and continue doing so. 'There was a personal vilification of me going on, and I was powerless, at that point, to do anything about it,' she said. 'The messages had a profoundly negative effect on me, they were filled with hate, disinformation, offensive content, lies and basely offensive matters.' Ms Cunningham was also critical of the social media platform. 'To this day, I find it deeply upsetting that something that is a criminal offence in this country is not accepted as a breach of social media rules here,' she said. Last year, Ms Cunningham, from Limerick, announced her retirement after 33 years with An Garda Síochána and the Agsi.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Irish Times
Man guilty of harassing prominent Garda representative with ‘offensive material'
A probation report is to be prepared on a man who has pleaded guilty to harassment with 'offensive material' of a woman who was general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) at the time. Andrew McGovern (38), of School Lane, Rathowen, Co Westmeath, appeared before Judge Bernadette Owens at Mullingar District Court on Thursday. He previously entered a guilty plea on a charge of distributing or publishing a 'threatening or grossly offensive communication' about Antoinette Cunningham 'with intent to cause harm' between March 16th and 30th, 2023. Ms Cunningham was the first woman to lead any of the Garda staff associations. Last year she retired from her roles with Agsi and the Garda after 33 years of service. READ MORE McGovern failed to show up for a sentencing hearing in March and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. He was detained by gardaí the following week and granted bail pending the case coming before Judge Owens again on Thursday. The matter was adjourned for two months pending the preparation of a probation report, with sentence to be handed down on July 17th. Under the legislation, anyone guilty of the offence McGovern pleaded guilty to faces a fine and/or a term of imprisonment of up to six months. Ms Cunningham was present in court for the hearing, with a number of supporters. The court was told she was available to give her victim impact evidence, after having submitted it in written form in March, but that was also adjourned. Judge Owens said hearing Ms Cunningham's victim impact evidence would have 'more impact for me' if it was heard in July, when the probation report is also set to be available to the court. A Probation Service representative told the court the service was not aware a report was required for Thursday's hearing. Judge Owens accepted this was because a bench warrant for McGovern had been issued at the last brief hearing associated with the case in March.
