Gardaí in ‘Catch-22’ situation over water meter protests

The High Court has heard gardaí are in a "Catch-22" situation when trying to move water protesters from inside barriers where water meters are being installed because it is not a public area and the Public Order Act does not apply.

The difficulty this posed for gardaí was outlined in the High Court yesterday by Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy, who was giving evidence in a hearing concerning three men alleged to have breached a High Court order not to go within 20 metres of contractors installing meters.

The chief superintendent told the High Court that locations where water meters were being installed were not public areas for the purpose of the Public Order Act, leaving gardaí with a difficulty when it came to policing protests.