Man who told gardaí he knew ‘King Nidge’ is fined €400

Keith Rooney charged with being intoxicated while on a stag party in Letterkenny

A man who warned Gardai that he knew ‘King Nidge’ from the hit RTÉ drama Love/Hate has been fined €400.  File photograph of Tom Vaughan Lalor playing Nidge.
A man who warned Gardai that he knew ‘King Nidge’ from the hit RTÉ drama Love/Hate has been fined €400. File photograph of Tom Vaughan Lalor playing Nidge.

A man who warned Gardai that he knew 'King Nidge' from the hit RTÉ drama Love/Hate has been fined €400.

Keith Rooney was arrested by gardaí while on a stag party with friends in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

Gardaí had been called when Rooney was remonstrating with security staff at Voodoo Nightclub in Letterkenny on November 15th last.

When gardaí arrived, Rooney said he knew 'King Nidge' and his friends in Drogheda and Ballymun. Rooney (25) from Lavin Park, Tullyallen, Co Louth, was charged with being intoxicated and refusing to comply with the directions of gardaí.

Judge Paul Kelly asked Rooney if he knew that King Nidge was a fictional character and if his friends in Drogheda "were real or imaginary." Rooney, who works making tanks for oil rigs, replied that they too were imaginary.

His solicitor Frank Dorrian told Letterkenny District Court that his client had too much too drink while out on a stag party.

He added that Rooney’s remarks about ‘King Nidge’ were meant to be amusing rather than abusive.

Judge Kelly ordered Rooney to pay €400 to the Irish Wheelchair Association, struck out the charges but warned him to "watch yourself."

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