Paul Murphy receives summons over Joan Burton incident

Socialist Party TD Paul Murphy said he — along with 26 other anti-water charge protesters facing trial — will have to convince a jury that it is “ludicrous” to equate what they did to Tánaiste Joan Burton in Tallaght last November with false imprisonment.

The Dublin South West TD rejected claims he was benefiting politically from the prosecution, saying he had “no interests in being a martyr”.

Mr Murphy, and the bulk of the other cases, are highly unlikely to be heard until next July and, quite possibly, not until October 2016, due to the waiting time for cases in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.