This article is from page 1 of the 2013-12-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
A SENIOR garda has voiced his concerns after a violent feud flared to life inside an Ennis courtroom last week. Three men from the Ennis area had been ordered to pay compensation to a victim of criminal damage when one of the men demanded to be sent to jail instead.
“You can send me to jail, Judge. I won’t give her 10 cents. You can put me in jail now,” he said.
“She’s only put fuel in the fire. The feud’s only starting now”, he told the female victim.
Judge William Earley was passing sentence at Ennis District Court on Thursday after finding three men guilty of attacking a car while a religious ceremony was underway in Drumcliffe graveyard in March.
Judge Earley said it seemed to be the case that the woman who owned the car was a “victim of one of these wretched family feuds that are all too common in the Traveller community”. The violent attack may have been sparked by an ongoing feud between two Traveller families. The woman was not involved in the dispute, the court was told. Insults and abuse were hurled at the mother of two at the end of the hearing. A 41-year-old woman was arrested and charged for allegedly provoking a breach of the peace. Gardaí also had to be called to deal with disturbances that erupted outside the Courthouse.
Inspector Michael Gallagher, the prosecutor in the case, said he had never witnessed such scenes in a courtroom. Speaking afterwards, he said, “In my 30 years with the gardaí, I’ve never seen anything or heard anything like that. ”