Protesters interrupt repossession hearings with holy water

Holy water was sprinkled and part of the rosary recited in unusual scenes at Castlebar Circuit Court in Co Mayo, where 110 cases of repossession were listed against householders.

Proceedings had been underway for about 40-minutes when activists interrupted and put various questions to the County Registrar, Fintan Murphy.

Before suspending the court, the County Registrar told members of Land League West and Integrity Ireland that they were interrupting the court and that that was not acceptable.

A garda sergeant later asked for the court to be cleared so proceedings could resume at 12 pm. However, the protesters refused to leave on the grounds that they believed that if they did they would not be allowed back in again.

This stand-off was followed by unusual scenes, including the recitation of prayers by a female member of Land League West. The woman then sprinkled holy water on the courtroom floor.

At midday, there was a rush by protesters to get access to the new courtroom where the court was restarting, but they were denied access by gardaí.

Stephen Manning of Integrity Ireland was one of a number of protesters to remonstrate with the garda sergeant in charge that keeping them out of the court was undemocratic and unlawful.

Garda complaint

Afterwards, a number of activists, including Mr Manning, went to the local garda station where they handed in a complaint that the actions of the County Registrar and two garda sergeants had been unlawful.

Afterwards, Mr Manning alleged to the assembled media that Mr Murphy had been out of order in his action.

Mr Manning said: “What he [Mr Murphy] has done is a switcharoo . . . move from one court to another and place guards at the door to prevent us raising our legitimate, lawful, objections.

“Today, gardaí have turned on their own people and it is a serious blow to democracy. Gardaí have denied us our rights today and Integrity Ireland is going to do its best to stop that.”

Gerry O’Boyle of Land League West warned his organisation would be “upping the ante” after the incident. He said the authorities appeared to be trying to force the protesters into a more militant situation.

"We bailed the banks out. Now we are getting sold out. We are not going to stand for this. We will stand together," Mr O'Boyle said, promising an even bigger turnout when similar repossession cases are heard in Galway on Tuesday.