A CIE bus driver told a black man getting on his bus that he shouldn't be in this State and should go back to his own country, Dublin District Court has been told. Mr Gerry O'Grady, the bus driver, also told two witnesses that the incident on his number 66 bus was caused by "nig-nogs", the court was told.
Mr O'Grady is charged under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act (1989).
Mr Mathew John, a sales representative who has lived in the Republic for eight years and is from The Gambia, said he attempted to board the bus in Maynooth on May 21st last year. He was told by Mr O'Grady that he could not get on the bus with food.
Mr John said he had a can of coke and a bap of plain bread. He told Mr O'Grady there was no sign saying food was prohibited on the bus.
According to Mr John, Mr O'Grady then said: "You can't get on the bus with food. In this country, we don't eat on the buses . . . What are you doing in this country? You should go back to where you came from, you don't belong here. All you people are just taking money from the Government."
"I couldn't understand why he was like this. He was very angry," Mr John said. "I have travelled on the bus for eight years. People drink on the bus, do all sorts of crazy things. This was just a can of coke."
Garda David Byrne said Mr O'Grady later came into the Garda station at Lucan and said there was trouble on his bus.
Garda Byrne followed Mr O'Grady to the bus and went upstairs to two black men, one of them Mr John, at the back. When Mr O'Grady told Garda Byrne they had been abusive, a passenger told the garda that was not the case. Garda Byrne said Mr O'Grady then started shouting.
"He said they should go back to where they came from. I personally took this to be a racial comment . . . He was so aggressive, he was unbelievable," Garda Byrne said.
Ms Anna Wrynn, who was behind Mr John in the queue, said that when she remonstrated with Mr O'Grady, he got the money dispenser from the bus and threatened her with it. "He put it up to my face and said: `Do you want me to hit you?'," she said.
According to Ms Wrynn, Mr O'Grady then said: "It's those nig-nogs always causing trouble."
The case was adjourned until next Tuesday.