Angry residents last night condemned as arrogant and undemocratic the process adopted by the Government in proposing a new prison for north Co Dublin. They were protesting at the proposal to locate a replacement prison for Mountjoy in Thornton, Kilsallaghan, Co Dublin.
However, at the public meeting attended by several hundred local residents, it was stated that there was no appeal process in the planning of the prison and they were being denied their democratic rights.
The theme of the meeting was "Save Our Democracy: Save Our Community". The slogan was marked by the residents wearing orange ribbons, which were the symbol of democracy in the recent Ukraine elections.
Chairman of the Rolestown St Margaret's Action Group, Tom Winters, told the meeting: "The arrogant and undemocratic way this has gone ahead is not a hallmark of a democratic society, regardless of its being in our area."
He said that they would not tolerate the scale of arrogance which had been visited on the community by the Government.
The meeting was told that the area was zoned for agricultural use and it was a mostly farming community which had no roads infrastructure or public transport to accommodate such a development.
Rick Lyons of the Irish Penal Reform Trust said the proposal illustrated the lunacy of the Government's prison policy. It made absolutely no sense to put the prison outside the city centre, and he had had representations from families of prisoners, solicitors and lawyers saying that it would add time and difficulty.
Group committee member Teresa McDonnell said this building was going to influence the planning in the area from now into the future.
The committee said that they had asked Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to attend the meeting, but they had had no response until lunchtime yesterday when they were told he would not attend.
However, Minister of State Brian Lenihan last night did turn up, along with public representatives including Labour's Joan Burton, Socialist party TD Joe Higgins and local councillors from all parties.