Peaceful Protest Was Peaceful

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Joan Collins TD and supporters outside the High Court

RTÉ reports:

Dublin District Court has dismissed the prosecutions against eight of the 11 people charged with a public order offence arising out of water protests in Dublin 8 on 20 April last year.

Outgoing independent TD, Joan Collins and ten others were charged with failing to comply with the direction of a garda to leave the vicinity of a protest on Parnell Road.

The court refused to dismiss the prosecutions in relation to two of the co-defendants who were also charged with obstructing a garda.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said there was conflicting evidence from gardaí as to the section of the Public Order Act under which the direction was given by the Sergeant David Lynch.

He said there was a Constitutional right to peaceful protest. He said the State had to negate that right by proving that there was a common design to engage in a protest that was not peaceful.

Court dismisses case against outgoing TD Joan Collins (RTE)

Earlier: Turning The Tide Of Irish Politics

Pic Tom Tuite

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16 thoughts on “Peaceful Protest Was Peaceful

      1. Rob_G

        Didn’t she used to harp on about cronyism, jobs for the boys, etc, and then gave her husband a job paid for by the public purse the minute she was elected?

      1. Rob_G

        That’s true, but everyone is still obliged to follow directions given by the Gardaí at said protests.

  1. Fergus the magic postman

    Complete waste of resources, & a disgrace.
    We’re told to believe that the Gardaí decided themselves to put all of these resources into water meter installations, and arrests of protesters etc. I don’t believe that, never have, & I’ll be bringing it up on the doorstep (though the Labour TD put his flyer through the letterbox with a handwritten note on it & took off, without ringing the doorbell).
    It has been sickening to see such numbers of Gardaí being used for such measures while rural areas no longer have Garda Stations, & have to wait up to an hour for them to turn up in response to an actual crime.
    I won’t even mention their collective eyes being off the ball when the Regency incident occurred, but objections to water meters?The whole gang of boys in blue & their superiors will be there in seconds.

    1. Rob_G

      Gardaí had to be present at water meter installations because a small but vocal minority of protesters were seeking to prevent ordinary workers going about their lawful business; if you want to blame anyone, blame those protesters.

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