About 30 people turned up outside Mountjoy Prison yesterday to demonstrate against the imprisonment of 13 anti-road protesters.
They were imprisoned on Friday after refusing to give undertakings not to interfere with work on Wicklow County Council's proposed dual carriageway through the Glen of the Downs. Five of the protesters are being held in Mountjoy Women's Prison and the eight men in Cloverhill Prison.
Mr Justice Barr said on Friday that because the 13 protesters refused to give the undertakings, he was left with no alternative but to direct that they be taken into custody and remain there until they did so.
The Green Party TD, Mr Trevor Sargent, a Green Party councillor, Ms Deirdre de Burca, and the singer Mary Coughlan were among the demonstrators outside the prison. A number of parents of those imprisoned also attended.
Mr Sargent said the protesters should not have been imprisoned as they were upholding European law, which protects designated special areas of conservation such as the Glen of the Downs.
He added: "If the people inside are put in jail, not having been tried and sentenced, a number of successive government ministers should also be jailed for not following European directives."
Mr Sargent said, however, he was not happy about anyone breaking the law, and "all sides should take a step back rather than trying to bulldoze".
Ms Chris McQuillan, who was among the Glen of the Downs supporters, said the protest was to show that "we are not going anywhere and we are not going to sit in silence while people get locked up".