Protesters defied a High Court ruling yesterday when they scaled the perimeter fence at the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork to object to the private ownership of the headland, now being used as a golf course.
More than 100 people marched to the Old Head yesterday. After a two-hour protest, 20 people scaled the fence and made their way to the lighthouse at the end of the headland.
Although there was a strong Garda presence, there was no confrontation, despite the fact that golf course personnel warned protesters as they scaled the fence that they were breaking the law by trespassing.
The Campaign to Reclaim the Old Head of Kinsale organised a similar protest earlier this month when some 300 people gathered at the Old Head and cut the perimeter fence wire leading to the golf course.
Yesterday, Mr Ted Tynan, one of the organisers, said that the traditional right of the people of Cork to use the Old Head as an amenity had once again been asserted. He added: "We were determined to make our point, we have made it and we will do it again."
Last March, the High Court banned public access to the Old Head of Kinsale. In his ruling, Mr Justice Kearns overturned the public's right to use the Old Head as an amenity, although this right had previously been upheld by An Bord Pleanala.
The exclusive golf course, which charges annual membership of £2,000 and £190 a round for visitors, is jointly owned by John and Patrick O'Connor through a company named Ashbourne Holdings Ltd.
Yesterday, Mr John O'Connor, referring to the previous protest earlier this month, described it as a violent one in which a number of people wearing masks and balaclava helmets had clashed with golf course staff and damaged greens.
Mr Tynan denied Mr O'Connor's claim and said no member of the protest group had worn a balaclava, although some had worn comical masks to make the point that the Old Head was for everyone, not just a privileged few.
Mr O'Connor said that the course, which attracts a large number of international golfers, was one of the finest tourism packages in the southern region and its image was being tarnished by the protest.
He said that a traditional right of way had never existed at the Old Head of Kinsale and when people used it as an amenity they had been trespassing. The Old Head was now in private ownership and golf and rambling did not mix.
Mr Dominic Daly, a director of the golf course, said the protest was damaging the reputation of the course as a facility which had enjoyed international support. He said that an American television company specialising in golf had decided not to film on the Old Head course but to go to Kerry instead.
"Once they heard about the protest, they weren't interested, and it seems that Kerry's gain is our loss", he said. "This kind of thing is not going to make a good impression on decent golfers who want to come here. We've already had cancellations."