Some 50 individuals were named on temporary injunctions secured by five meat processors – ABP, Dawn Meats, Kepak, Slaney Foods and Liffey Meats – last week.

On Friday, injunctions by ABP, Dawn Meats and Slaney Foods were made permanent.

Since then, readers have asked if a farmer (Farmer A) who is named on an injunction can return to the factory gate.

What happened in court on Friday?

The farmers have agreed to consent to court orders not to trespass, picket/blockade and/or engage in intimidatory activities.

The processors have agreed not to look for damages in the underlying case, nor the costs of the injunction.

The processors also acknowledged the right of the farmers to lawful and peaceful protest.

Can Farmer A return to the factory gate?

Farmer A is, of course, entitled to return to the factory gate and engage in lawful and peaceful protest.

However, if he is subsequently found to be in breach of any of the terms of the court order, then the processor can bring Farmer A back to court for breach of the court order.

What is a lawful and peaceful protest?

There can often be a fine line between peaceful and unlawful protest.

For example, many people believe that walking up and down at the factory entrance in a peaceful manner is lawful.

However, only registered trade unions in pursuit of a lawful industrial dispute can picket at premises – anyone else doing so is in breach of the law.

Directing unlawful protests would also be regarded as a breach of the Court order, if proven.

What if Farmer A is peaceful but someone else is not?

Another issue arises is that if Farmer A is peacefully protesting at the factory and another, Farmer B, engages in unlawful activity, will Farmer A be deemed to be in breach of the court order?

If brought back to court, Farmer A can make a submission to the court that he was not engaged in unlawful behaviour.

However, depending upon the nature of the incident, it may be difficult to persuade a judge that they were not implicated in the unlawful activities of others in the vicinity.

Accordingly, Farmer A who has consented to the court orders needs to be very careful if he is to attend back at the factory gate premises.

In each of the recent cases where consent orders were agreed, the meat plants chose not to pursue for the costs of the injunction.

However, if Farmer A was found to be in breach of the court order, there would be nothing to prevent the processor again seeking their costs going forward.

However, a line has been drawn in the sand in relation to any costs and damages up to the date of the consent order.

What about a new protester, Farmer C?

To the best of my knowledge, all the court orders made had a provision that the injunction applied to anyone having notice of the order being made.

Accordingly, if there is evidence that Farmer C, a new farmer to join the protest, was handed a copy of the order or was seen reading it on the gate, then the processor will seek to argue that Farmer C was on notice of the order.

If Farmer C engages in activity that is prohibited by the injunction order, then the processor could bring Farmer C to court by way of notice of motion for attachment and committal and seek to either fine or jail him for breach of court order.

Will an injunction lead to a criminal record?

The injunction proceedings are civil matters and if somebody is injuncted, they do not have a criminal record, nor is their credit rating impacted.

However, An Garda Síochána are still entitled to move people on or arrest them if they believe there is a public order offence being committed.

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