Protests in support of jailed businessman Seán Quinn took place outside a number of his former businesses in Cavan and Fermanagh today.
Mr Quinn (66) was jailed for nine weeks on Friday.
The High Court ruled his contempt of court orders restraining the Quinn family from putting of its €500 million international property portfolio out of the reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank, now part of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), was so serious and outrageous that he must be jailed.
Scores of workers staged a one-day walk-out at Quinn Direct, Quinn Packaging and the Quinn Cement plants in the Derrylin and Ballyconnell areas of Co Fermanagh and Co Cavan.
Gardaí said tractors and other agricultural vehicles were being used to block the entrances to the premises and surrounding roads.
The PSNI also confirmed it was aware of a protest at Ballyconnell Road in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.
In a statement, the protesters said they are "angered and dismayed at the ongoing senseless and damaging dispute" between Anglo and the Quinn family. They demanded mediation between the Quinn family and IBRC and for Mr Quinn to be released from jail during the talks.
"We have no interest in covering old ground and we make no pronouncements on the rights and wrongs of either party in this pointless dispute," said a statement issued by Quinn Group employees, local businesses and communities.
"We demand, however, a resolution that will save our jobs, our communities and our future livelihoods."
One witness told The Irish Times roads in the area were blocked and she was laughed at and verbally abused by protesters as she tried to drive past.
"Every road was blocked in and out of Ballyconnell to Derrylin and Lisnaskea and no amount of talking was to be done," she said. "When I said why was I being punished I was told that people have to be sacrificed to make a point. Licence plates were removed from all machinery and everyone denied ownership and refused to move them."
A spokeswoman for the Quinn Manufacturing Group stressed that the legal dispute between the Quinn family and the IBRC had nothing to do with the current management at the factories. "Protest actions have this morning disrupted the operations of our manufacturing plants in Derrylin and Ballyconnell and are currently being dealt with by the PSNI and the gardaí," she said.
"These protests are linked to an ongoing legal dispute between the Quinn family and IBRC and are nothing to do with Quinn Manufacturing Group — which has no influence on these matters.
"Quinn Manufacturing Group employs over 1,000 people in the Cavan/Fermanagh area and we call on the people behind these protests to desist as they will only serve to have a negative effect on our businesses and damage employment prospects in the area."