May Day protestors remanded in custody
A group of 12 May Day protesters arrested following violent clashes with gardaí during EU expansion celebrations in Dublin were remanded in custody today.
Of 18 demonstrators who appeared at the Cloverhill District Court, the 11 detained since their arrest on Saturday night were remanded for another week until May 12.
Their bail applications were abruptly rejected by Judge John Coughlan because of the “seriousness of the offences and the events which occurred on Saturday night”.
They are all charged with public order offences relating to breach of the peace and failing to follow garda directions.
Englishman Harry Johnstone, 20, had been released on bail after being charged with stealing a garda hat, but was remanded back in custody on three further charges.
Two other protesters had bail approved and four more were remanded on continuing bail to appear again on June 16.
The disturbances broke out as demonstrators marched from the city centre towards Phoenix Park, where EU leaders were enjoying a banquet.
Some 29 people were arrested and a female garda was injured as two water canons were deployed to disperse the crowd, which tried to force its way through garda lines.
Gardaí later found a live shotgun cartridge along with rocks, bottles and other missiles which had been thrown at gardai.
There were gasps from the packed courtroom as the 12 protesters were detained for a further week.
A spokeswoman from the Dublin Grassroots Network, Liz Curry, described the judge’s decision as “completely unfair”.
Ms Curry said the way protesters had been treated was "outrageous''.
Speaking outside the court, she said the judge’s actions were clearly politically motivated.
“The message he wanted to convey was that if you go on a political protest, you will be locked up for as long as possible,” she said.
“The applications for bail included missing vital exams, losing jobs, disabilities and children but they were all told they should have thought about such things before they joined the protest.
“Gardaí had no objection to releasing them all on bail but we believe Judge Coughlan wanted to make an example of them – he implied they deserved everything they got.”
She said the Dublin Grassroots Network would be raising money to help with court costs.
All 18 charged were male and aged between 19 and 42, although most are in their early 20s.
They include two Englishmen and one American.
