Four people charged in connection with Newtownmountkennedy protest

Six arrests were made during what gardaí described as “serious public disorder”. On Friday, four people appeared at Bray District Court in connection with the incident.

Shane Synnott, 19, of Season Park, Newtownmountkennedy, Michael Synnott, 56, of the same address in Season Park in Newtownmountkennedy, Ben McNulty, 41, of Rossmore Avenue, Newtownmountkennedy and Sharon McCann, 39, of Mountainview Drive, Newtownmountkennedy They were all charged with the same offense which involved failing to comply with garda instructions.

The charge facing the four individuals relates to loitering in a public place without reasonable excuse, causing concern for the safety of persons, property or public place, and failing to comply with garda instructions to leave.

Michael Synnott appeared in court wearing a yellow high-visibility t-shirt and workman’s pants, while Shane Synott wore a black Nike t-shirt and cream-colored track pants.

Ben McNulty wore a navy T-shirt and workman’s trousers, while Sharon McCann appeared in blue jeans and a cream fleece.

Inspector Niall Kennedy told Judge Nicola Andrews that none of the four individuals responded to the charges while on bail.

Speaking about the incident in general, he said gardaí had been dealing with a “large scale public order incident” at the site and needed to be there to ensure workers were not interfered with by protests that had become “very noisy”.

He said that at 7 p.m. on Thursday, some protesters engaged in alleged illegal activities. Kennedy said a “mob” had set fire to the property and Garda vehicles had been damaged, including a smashed windscreen and slashed tyres.

He told the judge the arrests were made to prevent property damage and injury to people. He said gardaí had faced a “relentless, prolonged and extremely dangerous” level of violence and there could be further charges linked to the incident.

The four defendants were ordered to observe a curfew at their homes between 8pm and 8am, not to take part in protest activities in Newtownmountkennedy and to stay away from River Lodge, Trudder House and the surrounding area. .

Each of them was remanded in custody on bail of 1,000 euros and must appear in court again on May 9.