'I will not be intimidated': Death threat painted on wall near Paul Murphy's house

The graffiti has since been removed and Paul Murphy says he will be contacting gardaí about the incident. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy says he “will not be intimidated” after a death threat was spray-painted on a wall near his home over the weekend.

The words “RIP Paul Murphy” appeared on a wall just five minutes from the TD’s home in Tallaght on Saturday night.

Commenting on the threat in a statement on X, Mr Murphy said: “I will continue to oppose those who try to divide ordinary people and spread hate.

“We need to unite against those who are actually responsible for housing, health and climate crises.” 

The graffiti has since been removed and Mr Murphy says he will be contacting gardaí about the incident.

On Saturday night, this was painted 5 minutes walk from my house.

I will not be intimidated.

I will continue to oppose those who try to divide ordinary people and spread hate.

We need to unite against those who are actually responsible for housing, health and climate crises. pic.twitter.com/FywMnFPlTl

— Paul Murphy 🇵🇸 (@paulmurphy_TD) April 30, 2024

Speaking outside Leinster House, Mr Murphy said there is “clearly an attempt by far-right actors to intimidate, threaten and discourage people from engaging in politics”, adding that “those of us who have been particularly targeted are the ones who have been most vocal about the lies that they’re spreading”.

Mr Murphy said that “there is an increasing number of people who realise that there’s something very bad happening in our country right now”, referencing the repeat arson attempts on prospective asylum seeker accommodation and the killing of Croatian national Josip Strok.

He said that “the State in general has proven slow to protect those who are vulnerable, who don’t have power, in particular I would say asylum seekers” adding that the authorities haven’t “taken the issue of the far-right seriously enough in general”.

Mr Murphy said however that he would not “be making any particular complaint about my treatment by the gardaí”.

It comes as Taoiseach Simon Harris said that the abuse of politicians must be taken seriously before the “unthinkable happens”. This was after a bomb scare at Justice Minister Helen McEntee's home last week, as well as protests outside the home of Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman.

A major investigation was launched after the threats forced Ms McEntee’s young family to evacuate their home in Co Meath last Wednesday.

The minister was not at home at the time, and the threat was reportedly made from a location in Cork.

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Asked if the same level of solidarity was being shown to him by fellow politicians as has been shown to Government ministers who have been subject to far-right activity in recent weeks, Mr Murphy said that “people need to take a stand against all of it”.

He said that a recent protest outside the home of Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman was “absolutely horrific”, adding that “people are right to be appalled at what happened to me, at what happened to Roderic O’Gorman, what happened to Helen McEntee, what happened to Leo Varadkar”.

“But I would say that other people’s lives are just as valuable, and people should realise that a man was killed because of not speaking English, and that is a very serious and damaging indication of what’s happening in our country,” he said.