Ten bound to peace after funeral row

TEN MEMBERS of the same extended family were bound to the peace for three years last night for their involvement in an affray following a family funeral.

The 10 had a combined total of nearly 100 previous convictions. Nine males of the Connolly and Moran families appeared at the Waterford Circuit Court charged with affray, while one woman was charged with assault.

Louis, Gary, Anthony and Noel Connolly, all of Priory Lawn in Ballybeg, appeared along with John Connolly, Larchville, and Patrick and Shane Moran of Priory Lawn.

All of the men pleaded guilty to a charge of affray in the city on March 20th, 2004.

Martin Moran, Ardmore Park, Ballybeg, and David O’Regan, Larchville, also pleaded guilty to the charge at the court last night, while Linda Halligan, Ardmore Park, pleaded guilty to assault.

Garda Robert Lewis told Judge Rory MacCabe that all 10 became involved in the “extended incident”, starting at Paddy Brown’s pub at Paddy Brown’s Road, Lisduggan, after the funeral of a family member.

“All the parties attended the funeral of another family member . . . all parties attended Paddy Brown’s,” said Garda Lewis. “Throughout the day, alcohol was consumed and tensions were high.”

A skirmish developed involving a “lot of verbal disagreements”, while “general behaviour was of a bad nature,” Garda Lewis added.

However, while some CCTV evidence was available from the bar, it was difficult to ascertain “who did what”.

Another incident evolved at Priory Lawn hours later and a Garda presence was required there overnight.

All 10 of the guilty parties had previous convictions for various offences totalling 95, it emerged.

The judge said he would not go against the local gardaí, who maintained that being bound to the peace would be an adequate solution to the problem. He bound all 10 to the peace for three years on their own bonds of €100 each.