Four people charged in connection with Newtownmountkennedy protest
Michael Synnott (left) and Shane Synnott leave Bray District court charged in connection with a public order incident in Co Wicklow on Thursday night. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA
Four people have appeared in court charged in connection with a public order incident in Co Wicklow on Thursday night.
Public order gardaí were called to an incident at a site earmarked for asylum seekers at Trudder House, outside Newtownmountkennedy on Thursday.
Six arrests were made during what the gardaí described as “serious public disorder”. On Friday, four people appeared at Bray District Court in connection with the incident.
Shane Synnott, aged 19, of Season Park, Newtownmountkennedy, Michael Synnott, aged 56, of the same address in Season Park in Newtownmountkennedy, Ben McNulty, 41, of Rossmore Avenue, Newtownmountkennedy and Sharon McCann, aged 39, of Mountainview Drive, Newtownmountkennedy were all charged with the same offence which involved failing to abide by garda instructions.
The charge faced by the four individuals relates to loitering in a public place without a reasonable excuse, leading to concern for the safety of people, property or public place – and failing to comply with garda instructions to leave.
Michael Synnott appeared in court wearing a hi-vis yellow t-shirt and workers’ pants while Shane Synott was wearing a black Nike t-shirt and cream sweatpants.
Ben McNulty was wearing a navy t-shirt and workers’ pants while Sharon McCann appeared in blue jeans and a cream fleece.
Inspector Niall Kennedy told Judge Nicola Andrews that none of the four individuals made any reply to the charges under caution.
Talking about the incident more generally, he said gardaí had been dealing with a “large-scale public order incident” at the site and were required to be there to ensure that workers were not interfered with by protests that had become “highly vocal”.
He said that by 7pm on Thursday, some protesters became involved in alleged illegal activity. Mr Kennedy said a “mob” had set fire to property and that Garda vehicles had been damaged, including the smashing of a windscreen and the slashing of tyres.
He told the judge arrests were made to prevent damage to property and injury to people. He said gardaí had been met with a “relentless, prolonged and extremely dangerous” level of violence, and there may be further charges relating to the incident.
The four accused were ordered to abide by a curfew at their home addresses between 8pm and 8am, not to engage in protest activity in Newtownmountkennedy, and to stay away from River Lodge, Trudder House and the surrounding area.
They were each remanded on bail of their own bond of €1,000 to appear in court again on May 9.
