Wicklow businessman due for sentencing after guilty plea to harmful communications charge
The Wicklow PeopleA Wicklow businessman who admitted sending harmful communications is due to be sentenced later this month after failing in his bid to withdraw his guilty plea.
Niall Barry (74), with an address at Coolnavee, Hillside, Greystones, appeared at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to one count of sending harmful communications contrary to Section 4 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.
The legislation is commonly known as Coco’s Law and created specific criminal offences targeting harmful online communications.
The defendant, who is a businessman and shareholder in a Wicklow-based manufacturing company, was arraigned on November 4, 2025.
At sentencing, an outline of the facts will be given. The court previously heard that Mr Barry used his Twitter account and email to send harmful communications about the complainant, Marcus Doyle, a former golf manager.
The sending of harmful communications commenced more than one year after Mr Barry had been expelled from Druids Glen.
It was alleged that Mr Barry contacted owners of golf clubs across the country, copying more than 350 golf clubs into correspondence.
Mr Barry, who was involved in a dispute with Druids Glen and Golf Ireland, sought to resile from his guilty plea after it had been entered, grounding his application in an affidavit submitted at a previous hearing.
In the affidavit, Mr Barry stated that he had been coerced and pressured by his legal team, solicitor Brendan Maloney and barrister Justin McQuade.
At a previous sitting, the court was told that Mr Barry had alleged that his legal team had conspired with the prosecution.
In his affidavit, he claimed that Mr Maloney had not acted in his best interests and had “terrorised him and his wife”.
However, Mr Barry further alleged that the case before the court was being used to taint him in other civil proceedings currently ongoing against Golf Ireland and former legal representatives.
He also accused the investigating garda and others involved in the case of “cheating him”.
The court also heard that Mr Maloney had filed a replying affidavit in which he refuted the accusations made against him and Mr McQuade.
The affidavit further stated that Mr Barry had, in advance of entering his guilty plea, signed written confirmation of his instructions acknowledging that he was making an informed decision.
The court was previously told that solicitor Michael French had come off record after a breakdown in communication regarding the application to withdraw the guilty plea, with barrister Gregory Murphy stating that “the affidavits before the court had no input from either himself or Mr French” and that communication had broken down to such an extent that they could no longer act.
Senior counsel for Mr Barry, Michael Bowman, informed the court in May that he could not stand over the allegations made against Mr Maloney and Mr McQuade, adding that Mr Barry had panicked when entering his guilty plea.
Mr Bowman reiterated the withdrawal of the allegations and was “effusive in confirming that there was no criticism of Mr Maloney’s or Mr McQuade’s professionalism and integrity”.
In acknowledging the withdrawal of Mr Barry’s accusations against Mr Maloney, Mr McQuade, Mr Doyle and the garda, Judge Patrick Quinn stated that the accusations should never have been made in the first place.
In his judgment, Judge Quinn remarked that Mr Barry had received adequate and experienced legal advice and ruled that he would be held to his plea.
At a recent sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court, the court was told that Mr Barry is due to be sentenced on June 23.