Dublin, Ireland

Former gardai staging a sit-in occupation at the force’s Fitzgibbon Street station may risk prison after deciding to defy a High Court order to vacate the building. Mr Justice Michael Peart heard the 45 former police officers had been told by their union that they needed to obey the court order to vacate the premises. However, they decided by a unanimous vote to continue their protest, which began last Friday.

The mainly female gardai are in dispute with the state over redundancy payments. The minister say that he is prepared to talk to the workers if they vacate the premises. The judge gave the gardai until 7pm to comply with the court order but he was told by counsel for their union, John Nolan, that they rejected the legal advice to end their occupation.

When they failed to comply, the judge issued an order for attachment and directed that members of the public arrest any gardai in the police station and bring them before him at 2pm tomorrow. Mr Justice Peart said “every reasonable opportunity” was given to the gardai to comply with the order.

Mr Justice Peart today made the interim order an interlocutory injunction, pending the outcome of the full hearing of the action. He said there was “no question” that the actions of the defendants were unlawful. He was satisfied that the individuals were aware of the terms of the order and the consequences of being in breach of it. Seeking the injunction, Mark Connaughton, SC for the minister, said the defendants had no right to be on the property, were trespassing, and were blatantly in breach of a court order. Counsel said that the state wanted “the matter to be brought to an end.”

The station in Fitzgibbon Street had been due to close at the end of this month but management decided on Friday to close it which led the gardai to stage a sit-in. Earlier today about 15 people staged a rally outside the Fitzgibbon Street station in support of the rozzers. At the protest, Lord Mayor Emer Costello, who knows some of the gardai, said she found the situation heartbreaking for police and their families.