Latest: Sinn Fein and Solidarity call for independent inquiry into Jobstown trial

The Cork North Central TD said it was blatantly obvious that these very serious charges should never have been brought forward by the DPP.

“While we obviously recognise the independence of the courts, the DPP, and the policing structures of the state, we also recognise that there is now huge public outrage following the vindication of the Jobstown protest.

“We believe there is a need for an inquiry that would examine how this trial came about and why these charges were brought in the first instance.”

The Solidarity Party has also suggested  there was a conspiracy to “stitch up” its members who were yesterday acquitted of false imprisonment.

It denies that yesterday’s acquittal was "a watershed moment" - it says that would only have been true if the Jobstown Six were convicted for their part in a protest.

The party claims that former Labour Party leader Joan Burton - who did not make a criminal complaint - went straight to the Phoenix Park Garda Station after the protest.

It also claims that in the days after the protest, Gardaí dropped plans to go door-to-door in Jobstown seeking evidence.

The Department of Justice has yet to respond to the demands.

Earlier:

One of the men cleared in the Jobstown trial says he has no faith in the judicial process.

Yesterday, a jury acquitted six people of falsely imprisoning the former Tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser Karen O’Connell at a water charge protest in Tallaght in November 2014.

Solidarity Councillor Kieran Mahon was asked if his acquittal makes him trust the courts system.

He said: "I don’t respect that process, how could you respect that process?

"Look at the evidence, look at the contradictory evidence by the guards, the video evidence. Look at the scandals the Gardaí have been involved in.

"How could you put your faith in an organisation of that nature?"

The trial at Dublin’s Circuit Criminal Court attracted huge attention on social media with the hashtag #Jobstownnotguilty in frequent use.

Asked about the use of social media during the trial, Councillor Mahon replied: "I think as long as facts are reported correctly, you’re free to give opinion."

"We’ve had a sustained campaign by the media where the media has basically had a free run in what it said about Jobstown, in what it said about Solidarity, what it said about the AAA, Paul Murphy TD and the defendants."

He also told Newstalk Breakfast the State broadcaster RTÉ, and the Dáil, was used against them.

"All you have to do is look at the media campaign that’s been run over the last two and a half years against the community in Jobstown and against the defendants themselves.

"If you look at it from the very off from the Saturday of the protest, the first reporting of that in mainstream media by the State broadcaster RTÉ was by RTÉ’s crime correspondent.

"Even that in itself show’s a certain framing of an issue in a certain light".

"People were looking at the story as it was presented to them by the national media".

"A lot of people would have to ask the question: why does a community come out and protest in that way?

"People were angry, people were annoyed - but generally over the course of the protest, people expressed themselves in a very, very disciplined way".

Asked how this was a defeat for the political establishment, as claimed by some of Councillor Mahon’s colleagues, he said: "All the information we’ve received about our charges has been received through the State broadcaster".

"The other aspect of the political establishment... is the Dáil - the use of the Dáil by TDs, and the use of national media by TDs to criticise and frame the Jobstown protest in a certain way".