Anti-bin tax protesters were last night "not ruling out" the possibility of taking legal action to secure the return of the remainder of the wheelie bins confiscated by SouthDublin County Council yesterday morning.
At approximately 8 a.m. in the Kingswood area of Tallaght a council van started collecting bins from outside the houses of residents who were believed to have refused to pay their bin charges. However, after a 7½- hour stand-off between protesters and council officials, most of the bins were returned.
"The council have tried to kidnap people's bins and hold them to ransom," said Mr Mick Murphy of the South Dublin Anti-Bin Tax campaign. "As soon as it happened, we knew about it . . . our patrols picked up what was happening, we have people in cars all the time."
Within the space of half an hour, he said, a group of about 10 protesters had cornered the council officials and the van, refusing to let them go until they returned the bins.
At one stage, he said, the atmosphere became "tense enough", with some of the protesters believing the gardaí were going to disperse them.
However, a spokesman for Tallaght Garda Station last night described the protest as "very peaceful", although he did confirm that gardaí had taken the names of some of those involved.
According to Mr Murphy, residents believe the council does not have the right to confiscate the bins, which they say are their private property. "Not all the bins were returned . . . if they are not given back by tomorrow evening, we are going to ask around the people whose bins they are and take it from there."
South Dublin County Council was unavailable for comment last night.
Meanwhile, Ms Bríd Smith of the Dublin Campaign against the Bin Tax, who is due to be released from Mountjoy Jail this morning, yesterday vowed to continue to fight against the bin charges.
Ms Smith (45), Ballyfermot, along with Ms Christine Heffernan (65), Terenure, was jailed for 14 days after refusing to abide by a court order to refrain from interfering with a Dublin City Council refuse truck.