Incident the ‘most serious’ at Oberstown for 20 years

An incident at Oberstown children’s detention centre last August, in which a number of young people got on to the roof, involved “significant” damage to a building and was the “most serious” at the unit in Lusk for some 20 years, the High Court has heard.

Four young males are suing the State, claiming that their human rights were breached arising from their treatment following that incident.

In documents before the court, the director of Oberstown pleaded that the incident on the night of August 29/30 was the most serious at the centre since 1998, created significant fear among staff, and was followed by industrial action.