The Irish Farmers' Association has to pay a daily fine of £500,000 "immediately", beginning today, if it continues its blockade of meat factories, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.
Mr Justice O'Donovan warned he would continue to impose fines "until it hurt" and also appointed an accountant as sequestrator over the assets of the association and directed it to disclose its assets within two days.
The new penalty is five times the size imposed by the same judge last week and follows the IFA's refusal, in defiance of court orders, to call off its blockade.
The IFA has already incurred total fines of £500,000 on foot of the judge's order of Friday last that it pay £100,000 a day for the blockades, effective from Thursday last. The £100,000a-day fine operated until yesterday, the fifth day of the breach of Wednesday night's injunction restraining picketing at the plants.
If his order continued to be disobeyed, Mr Justice O'Donovan said yesterday he would give liberty to counsel for the meat plants to apply to the court later in the week for a review of the latest fines which he had imposed.
Referring to a motion for attachment and committal which was also before him, the judge said he had no intention at the moment of acting on that. He believed what was required of him was that he send somebody to jail and make a martyr of some member of the farming community. He would continue to impose fines until it hurt and the court order was obeyed.
Mr Justice O'Donovan, who had granted a temporary order to 16 meat plants to halt the blockade last week, yesterday granted an interlocutory order to them pending the full trial of the action.
He said he was not persuaded by submissions that the plaintiffs were guilty of concerted practice under the Competition Act and it was clear the issues between the parties did not come within the Trade Disputes Act. There was no entitlement by the defendants to picket and they were certainly not entitled to carry on as they had been.
The judge said he had seen an affidavit of IFA president Mr Tom Parlon in which there was no expression of regret or apology. He appointed accountant Mr Paul Wise, of Oliver Freaney and Co, as sequestrator over the IFA's assets. He also awarded costs against the IFA.
The judge increased his penalties on the IFA after the organisation refused to give an undertaking that it would lift its blockade of the meat factories. IFA leaders were in court for yesterday's hearing. The case was first raised in the morning but it was adjourned until the afternoon to allow discussions aimed at resolving the situation to take place. The increased penalties were imposed during the resumed hearing after the IFA failed to give an undertaking to stop picketing.
At the earlier hearing, the judge said he was very aggrieved every time he turned on his radio or opened a newspaper to find that his order was being flouted with no regard for the rule of law among the farming community. If that was allowed continue, chaos would be the result.
Mr Michael Collins SC, for the meat plants, said his side would be looking for even more sanctions on the IFA than the £100,000 imposed last week. Mr Justice O'Donovan said they would be getting them.
He added that the blockade at the factories was causing incalculable damage, with 3,500 people out of work.
Mr John Rogers SC, for the IFA, said negotiations on the dispute had been arranged for today while, at the same time, the court proceedings were continuing. He asked for an adjournment until Thursday to allow the negotiations to continue.
When the case resumed in the afternoon, Mr Collins said the position remained as it had been in the morning.