Farmers in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, are continuing to protest outside the gates of the ABP processing facility in the town, despite a High Court injunction being served to prevent action at that plant, among several others.
The injunction was issued yesterday, Tuesday, August 28, but according to Kieran Delaney, one of the protesters at the Nenagh site, the farmers there are not worried about it.
“We’re still here, marching away, and we’re keeping lorries out at the minute. There are two lorries and two tractors with trailers here that want to come into the factory, but so far we’re staying walking and not letting them in,” Kieran told AgriLand.
He went on to explain that, so far, Gardaí have not attempted to move them on, or tried to intervene in the protest at all, except for occasionally checking that everything was being conducted in a safe manner.
The Gardaí are not interfering with us, they’re just coming down to make sure everything is safe, that the lorries are staying safe, that they’re not blocking the roads, anything like that.
According to Kieran, the Gardaí he spoke to did not seem intent on taking action to remove protesters.
“I asked one of the Gards, and he said that they had no interest in arresting anyone, and that they know nothing about the injunction,” Kieran said.
Regarding the injunction itself, Kieran questioned the manner in which the injunction was served, along with other issues.
An injunction notice has been attached to a wall at the plant so protesters could read it.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s no High Court stamp on it; we don’t even know if it’s a proper injunction. It’s very badly served.
According to Kieran, some of the details on the injunction notice were filled in with handwriting rather than printed.
“We actually don’t know if it’s even a proper injunction to be honest, because, normally, what we’ve seen from the courts before would have a court stamp on it,” he said.
Concluding, Kieran said: “We’re sticking it out. Basically, we’re not worried about it at all.”