Judge hopes 'penny will drop' for Cork woman who demanded room at hotel housing refugees

The court heard “she kept demanding from the manager how many Ukrainians were staying in the hotel."

Margaret Buttimer had previously come to court attention following a number of convictions over her repeated refusal to wear a mask in public places as required by Covid-19 regulations. File picture: Larry Cummins

A grandmother who repeatedly demanded accommodation at a hotel housing Ukrainian refugees has received jail sentences, already deemed to have been served, with the judge saying he "hoped the penny will drop".

Margaret Buttimer, 68 and currently of no fixed abode, had previously been convicted on three counts of failing to comply with a direction from gardaí and one Section 5 Public Order offence, all relating to incidents just before Christmas when she had presented at the Munster Arms Hotel in Bandon in Co. Cork, demanding a room.

She had also demanded accommodation for one of her adult sons and according to one Garda who gave evidence at the hearing: “She kept demanding from the manager how many Ukrainians were staying in the hotel, what the cost was to the Irish people, and that it was a disgrace."

The offences took place on December 19 — when Ms Buttimer twice attended at the hotel — and on December 21, after she had earlier been released from custody on condition she not return to the hotel.

Ms Buttimer had previously come to court attention following a number of convictions over her repeated refusal to wear a mask in public places as required by Covid-19 regulations.

During the previous court hearing Judge James McNulty had questioned whether she may have been exploited or manipulated by others "who have an agenda."

Sentencing

In Skibbereen District Court on Tuesday, passing sentence, Judge McNulty said he had seen a Probation report and a supplementary report relating to Ms Buttimer. He also said the Probation Service was actively seeking accommodation for Ms Buttimer.

The judge said Ms Buttimer had left school at a young age and taken on menial work and said: "Like a lot of people at the time, her mother did not think she had any brains.

"When you get that bad break in life it is hard to recover and make good." The judge also referred to an "early, hasty marriage" and more recently the end of an 18-year relationship and the death of Ms Buttimer's elderly mother.

Through her solicitor, Plunkett Taaffe, Ms Buttimer provided a handwritten note to the judge, who on reading it said it referred to another and previously undisclosed trauma Ms Buttimer suffered when she was younger.

Judge McNulty said the court was sympathetic to her and that "Margaret Buttimer is much more sinned against than sinning, if we can use that term".

The grandmother had been in custody for 28 days and the judge placed her on a Probation Bond for one year on the first Section 8 Public Order charge, and sentenced her to jail terms of seven days and 21 days on the other failure to comply charges, while taking the Section 5 offence into consideration.

He said the court deemed the sentences to have been served. Mr Taaffe said he could not provide the court with an assurance that Ms Buttimer would not return to the hotel and the judge said she may have become "fixated on this matter", but Judge McNulty added: "Even in the fog of this discomfort she is able to make a choice - 'I have made my point regarding the Ukrainians and the Munster Arms Hotel and I do not need to go back there'."

The Probation Service said Ms Buttimer would be attending at her GP and that she may be placed in emergency accommodation in Glengariff as a short-term measure, with a meeting scheduled with the Housing Officer from Cork County Council.