'I don't understand why so much force was used for no reason'

Grainne Walsh still doesn't know why her ordinary night out one Saturday four years ago turned into a nightmare.

She doesn't know why she and her sister, Ciara, were picked up, beaten and held in a cell by gardaí who never identified themselves. Nor has she received an explanation why the Garda Síochána later pursued the two sisters in the courts after they sued the force for its actions on that night in April 1998.

Yesterday the two fashion designers emerged smiling from the High Court with an apology from the gardaí and undisclosed damages. The end of a costly and nerve-wracking four-year legal battle was celebrated with a champagne lunch. "We're delighted with the outcome, and especially with the apology. But I still don't understand why it happened, and why so much force was used for no reason," said Gráinne.

For the Garda Síochána it was yet another incident in a series of cases in which officers are alleged to have used excessive force. The Garda Press Office said last night that there would be an inquiry to establish "the full sequence of events".

Gráinne and Ciara were walking up Grafton Street with some friends on the night in question when the incident occurred. A white car reversed at speed down the street and Gráinne tapped on the boot to alert the driver that he was driving into people.

A number of men jumped out of the car and handcuffed Gráinne. She was dragged up the street to a waiting van. When her sister remonstrated, she too was arrested. "They never spoke or identified themselves. At this stage, until I saw the Garda van, I thought we were dealing with a lunatic driver.

"One of the men threw me into the van and sat on my back. While the van was moving, he held me by the ponytail and repeatedly banged my head against the floor of the van. Still, he never said a word. It was madness."

In the yard of Pearse Street station, she was thrown out of the van. She landed on her face, sustaining cuts to her knees and chin. She was placed in a cell.

A short time later, a number of people who had witnessed the incident arrived to protest. A sergeant apologised to the sisters and said that they were free to go.

However, when the sisters decided later to press charges, the gardaí responded with charges of their own. They charged the two women with being drunk and disorderly, assaulting a police office and damaging property. The District Court threw out the case, but the sisters were left with thousands of pounds in legal costs, until yesterday.

That judgment made the result of yesterday's High Court case something of a formality, but the gardaí were still unwilling to issue an apology. Finally, on Thursday, the force relented, and yesterday its counsel expressed regret at what had happened and agreed that the two sisters were "of unblemished character".

Gráinne believes their case is not unusual: "Most people don't have the will or can't afford to go through what we did. If I had been on my own, I don't know if I would have had the nerve, but we were sisters and we supported each other."