Vandalised 19th-century monuments in Glasnevin Cemetery are "irreplaceable", a court was told yesterday.
Judge Geoffrey Browne ruled that a youth (17), accused of causing €100,000 worth of damage, is to face a Circuit Court trial in February because of the seriousness of the charges.
The Dublin Children's Court had heard that most of the monuments were damaged "beyond repair" in the alleged acts of vandalism last February. Garda Sgt Bob O'Reilly said the teenager and a group of youths drove a mechanical digger where many of the 19th-century headstones were located. The digger smashed into 42 headstones and monuments dating from the mid-1800s.