Man, 30s, charged over €400k worth of damage caused at Castletown House in Kildare

The juveniles involved were released from custody pending referral to the Juvenile Youth Diversion Programme

Castletown House in Co Kildare. File picture

The man in his 30s arrested for criminal damage on the historic Castletown House estate in Co Kildare has been charged.

The man and two juveniles were detained on Thursday morning following searches at multiple properties in the county. 

The juveniles were released from custody pending referral to the Juvenile Youth Diversion Programme. 

A file will be prepared for the DPP.

The arrests followed an investigation into extensive damage caused at the site in recent weeks, with the estimated cost put at around €400,000.

The most serious incident occurred over the May bank holiday weekend, when significant damage was caused to vehicles and infrastructure used by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to manage the estate. 

Four vehicles were overturned, a construction vehicle was driven into a river, and CCTV units were deliberately damaged on the lands of nearby Donaghcumper House.

Gardaí say investigations are ongoing.