A woman and her daughter were fined £350 at Ennis District Court yesterday for obstructing traffic at the entrance to a special school for handicapped children in Ennis, Co Clare. Ms Kathleen Casey and her 15-year-old daughter were fined £350 and given two weeks to pay or face a month in prison in default after refusing to move their caravans from a roadway leading to St Clare's School.
Judge Albert O'Dea imposed the maximum fine under the 1961 Road Traffic Act on Ms Casey and her daughter. The mother told the court: "I'm staying there, I've nowhere to go. It's not my fault, it's the council's fault."
Two others, Ms Mary Doherty and Mr Peadar Connors, who were also charged with breaching the Road Traffic Act, were not fined after the court was told they left the roadway during the week.