Six people alleged to have breached court orders restraining involvement in pickets at Dublin Airport affecting the business of Cityjet Handling were detained in custody for about an hour yesterday while the High Court was hearing proceedings brought against them by the company.
Two women among the six defendants were clearly upset when the custody direction was made. A seventh person, a construction worker not connected with the dispute who shouted in court when Mr Justice Kelly ordered the other six to be detained, was himself also held in custody for about an hour.
Later yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly directed that all the people who had been detained should be discharged. Apologies were given in court for breaches of the orders and undertakings were given that they would be obeyed in future.
The judge adjourned the committal proceedings until Thursday next but warned that the court's orders would have to be obeyed. If they were not obeyed, "anarchy" would ensue, he said.
What had been going on at the airport was close to anarchy, he added. There had been intimidation, trespass and abuse. He hoped there was a realisation that what was going on was "intolerable".
If there was a further breach of court orders, the judge said, he would sit over the weekend. He would not allow anarchy to continue. Anybody who breached the court orders ran the risk of being in custody for a longer period.
Prior to yesterday's hearing, Cityjet Handling had obtained injunctions to restrain disruption of its ground handling services for passenger airlines at Dublin Airport.