The High Court has granted an order for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone found picketing a building site at Bray, Co Wicklow.
Mr Justice O'Donovan made the order yesterday after being told picketing was continuing at a site of Menolly Homes Ltd, Putland Road, Bray, despite a temporary order which he had granted last Friday restraining anyone from interfering with access to or egress from the site.
A number of building workers from Bray are protesting at the site over what they claim is the employment of workers from Northern Ireland while local men are unemployed.
Mr Anthony Kerr for the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) said he was instructed to continue an undertaking given on behalf of his clients last Friday not to watch or beset the Putland Road site.
On BATU's undertaking that it would not be responsible for any of the picketing and was dissociating itself from what had happened, the judge said he would adjourn the hearing of an application for an interlocutory injunction against the union until the hearing of the full action.
Mr Justice O'Donovan said he could not do anything about picketing at a site belonging to the same firm at Rosedale, Phibblestown, Co Dublin.
He gave Menolly Homes liberty to apply to the court and adjourned generally applications for interlocutory injunctions against two individuals who picketed the Bray site.