“Disappointed and appalled.”
Ireland’s Courts Service, the statutory corporation which provides administration and support services to the courts, has condemned a protest held outside the Four Courts today.
The protest was held to coincide with a legal challenge taken against emergency legislation brought in to provide a legal basis for enforcing measures such as social distancing, remaining within 2km of one’s home for all non-essential purposes, and the closure of certain establishments.
Photographs from the court show dozens of protestors outside the Four Courts, in many cases standing close together. Among those present were John Waters and Gemma O’Doherty.
The statement the Courts Service noted that the organisation was “disappointed and appalled that people chose, or organised, today to attend in large numbers, despite not being required to be there – and thus endangered themselves, Gardaí court staff, and court users to infection.”
The statement went on to ask people to “be sensible… at this time of great public peril and threat to national health.”
Garth Noble, a Disability and Human Rights Litigation Partner in Human Rights law firm KOD Lyons, wrote on Twitter that his office had been prevented from “safely bringing an urgent application on behalf of a child with special needs” by the “mob.”
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