Courts

Protest at Co Kildare site intended to house Ukrainian refugees has ‘de-escalated’, court told

Company claims its work has been hampered by demonstrators opposed to State’s provision of accommodation to displaced persons

The High Court heard Total Experience Limited has been contracted by the State to provide 985 beds in 387 cabins at a site at Newhall, Naas, Co Kildare. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
The High Court heard Total Experience Limited has been contracted by the State to provide 985 beds in 387 cabins at a site at Newhall, Naas, Co Kildare. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
Aodhan O'Faolain
Tue Mar 05 2024 - 18:46

A protest at a site in Co Kildare where emergency facilities are being built to house hundreds of Ukrainian refugees has “de-escalated”, the High Court has heard.

Total Experience Limited, which is constructing facilities at Newhall, Naas, for families fleeing the war, secured a temporary order last week restraining protesters from blocking the entrances to the site.

The company, trading as Pastures New Accommodation, claims its work has been hampered by those opposed to the State’s provision of accommodation to displaced persons.

When the matter was mentioned before the court on Monday, the plaintiff’s lawyers said that despite the granting of the injunction, the protest was ongoing, and a campsite had been erected by protesters at the property. It was alleged that this campsite amounted to trespass.

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Barry Mansfield BL, for the plaintiff, told Ms Justice Siobhán Stack on Tuesday that matters had “de-escalated overnight”, and the campsite had been removed. This had removed some urgency from the matter, counsel said, but the company will continue with its case.

As a result of this latest development, he said his client no longer needed to proceed with its application to amend its proceedings to deal with the alleged trespass and to add several other individuals it claimed it had identified as being part of the protest to the action. This had been scheduled for Wednesday.

Counsel asked that the matter instead be adjourned to next week, when it is anticipated protesters would attend court. None of the protesters attended or had representations made on their behalf when the proceedings were called on Monday. It is also understood that posts on a Facebook page linked to the protest were conciliatory in nature and indicated a willingness to participate in the proceedings.

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Ms Justice Stack agreed to adjourn the matter, with the injunction remaining in place, to Thursday of next week.

The company last week claimed that up to 50 protesters were maintaining a 24-hour protest preventing persons and vehicles from entering or leaving the site by using tactics including forming “a human shield” and by parking cars in front of the site’s entrances.

The plaintiff claimed the activities amounted to a nuisance and an unreasonable interference with the company’s work.

The court granted the company a temporary injunction, on an ex parte basis, restraining the protesters from deliberately preventing or obstructing entrances from the site.

The firm has been contracted by the State to provide 985 beds in 387 cabins as well as a dining marquee, laundry and recreation facilities at the site.

The company said it is not attempting to interfere with anyone’s lawful right to peacefully protest. However, it claims the blocking of the entrances is not lawful and creates a safety risk.