Two building workers will remain in jail until they agree to stop picketing two Dublin construction sites in protest at the use of bricklaying subcontractors on such sites, the High Court has ruled.
In a courtroom packed with building workers yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly said it was a most distasteful thing for a judge to send somebody to prison, particularly when that person was working and wanted to work.
But Mr David McMahon (23), a bricklayer, and Mr William Rogers (28), a labourer, had left him no option.
Hundreds of colleagues and other supporters were at the Four Courts yesterday to protest at the continued jailing of the men, from Tallaght, Co Dublin.
The men, who are demanding the right to be treated as regular employees, were jailed on Wednesday when they refused to give undertakings to cease picketing sites at Merrion Road and Conyngham Road and were brought before the court again yesterday.
The morning hearing was adjourned until the afternoon when the judge was told talks were under way between the Construction Industry Federation and the Building and Allied Trades Union.
When the court resumed, the men again would not agree to stop picketing the sites for the rest of the day.
Their refusal followed a suggestion by Mr Dan Sullivan, solicitor, for the Building and Allied Trades Union, that they might be released while the discussions continued and that they would return to court today. Mr Rory Brady SC, for Capel Developments and John O'Connor Construction, the companies which brought the action, said his clients would like to help resolve the problem, which would have repercussions beyond the present case.
They did not want two workmen jailed, but were concerned the men would continue the picket and interfere with access to the building sites.
Mr Justice Kelly explained the legal situation to the men and then asked if they could decide what they would do.
The men said they would not lift the picket.
The judge then said they had left him no option. A court order existed, and he had evidence it had been breached and that picketing had gone on which was not protected by trade disputes legislation. An injunction had been granted, and the two men had breached it.
The judge told the men they had not been sent to prison for holding the views they held or expressing them or persuading others to share those views. But they would have to act within the law.
"I am left with no option, distasteful as it is, to ensure orders of the court are complied with," Mr Justice Kelly said.
He then made an order that the two men be returned to the custody of Mountjoy Prison and detained there until they purged their contempt.
Mr McMahon and Mr Rogers were before the court following previous court orders not to picket the sites at Merrion Road and Conyngham Road.
Capel Developments and John O'Connor Construction obtained the injunctions against them.
When the hearing concluded, workers who had been demonstrating outside the Four Courts came into the Round Hall and sat on the floor for a short time.
They then left peacefully and marched along the quays towards O'Connell Bridge.