Joan Burton was 'terrorised' in Jobstown, says Taoiseach

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Joan Burton was "terrorised" at the Jobstown protest.

Speaking in the Dáil today, he dismissed calls for a public inquiry into the handling of the case, saying that the acquittal of six people for false imprisonment does not mean their actions were acceptable.

The request for an inquiry was made by one of the accused, Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, who returned to the Chamber this afternoon after missing 10 weeks of Dáil business to attend his trial.

When he asked for an inquiry into Garda conduct, Varadkar said he believed Murphy's acquittal proved the trial was fair.

"I don't believe that that means that the behaviour that we saw in Jobstown was decent or acceptable," he said.

"And I think that the way that Deputy Burton and Karen O'Connell were treated was very wrong.

"I think they were terrorised.

"I think you can see the fear in their faces when you look at the coverage."