A woman who was imprisoned for three weeks in 1996 because she refused to get rid of a noisy rooster is back in Mountjoy Prison.
Moria Gallagher (65), from Achill Island, Co Mayo, was arrested by gardai yesterday at her home and was driven to the prison for non-payment of a £200 fine imposed by the District Court last year for harassing a neighbour by playing excessively loud radio music.
Gallagher came to wide public notice three years ago because her rooster, which has since died, annoyed a neighbour and led to a Circuit Court action. But problems have continued, and last summer the aggrieved neighbour, Mr Peter Masterson, told Judge Daniel Shields at Achill District Court that life was a misery for his family because of constant loud music from Gallagher's home.
Garda Tony McCabe said Gallagher had two radios tuned to two different stations near full volume as well as a television. Gallagher was fined £200. She is being imprisoned for non-payment of this fine.
After her first spell in prison she told reporters that she found the place very comfortable, very much like a nice hotel.