Farm owner sorry for repossession protest

A stud farm owner whose arrest for contempt of court orders was directed after his lands were the scene of angry anti-repossession protests has voluntarily appeared before the High Court to apologise.

Eugene McDermott, a father of six, was under enormous stress and “succumbed to irrational actions” because he felt “catapulted into a storm” due to economic factors beyond his control, Mr Justice Brian McGovern was told yesterday.

Mr McDermott wished to apologise and was also prepared to ask the protesters who had come on to his lands at Kennycourt Stud, Brannockstown, Naas, “to desist”, his counsel Vincent P Martin said.

Mr Justice McGovern said he wanted to make clear that when a court makes orders, compliance is not optional. While he fully understood the stress Mr McDermott was under, there were many others across the country who had also lost all but they were not disobeying court orders, the judge said.

Upset and suffering
The upset and suffering experienced by Mr McDermott and his family was "no justification for letting a mob on to your lands", he told Mr McDermott. This State was "not founded on the rule of the mob" and the people had decided the courts would adjudicate disputes.

Given Mr McDermott’s apology and undertaking to comply with orders restraining interference with receivers appointed by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation over 120 acres of the lands, the judge said he would not jail him and would quash the arrest warrant.

He adjourned an application by Michael Howard SC, for the receivers, for €6,100 costs against Mr McDermott arising from “mob damage”, plus legal costs.

Warrants were issued last September for the arrest of Mr McDermott and two other men – Ben Gilroy and Charles Allen – for the purposes of bringing them before the court to answer claims of contempt of orders restraining interference with the receivers.

Mr Gilroy, of Direct Democracy Ireland, was arrested in Navan, Co Meath, this month and brought before the court which adjourned the proceedings against him to today.

The warrant for the arrest of Mr Allen – of the Rodolphus Allen private trust set up – remains unexecuted.