Seventeen construction workers were today fined €250 each by the High Court for breaching an order preventing picketing at three Dublin building sites.
The builders were arrested by gardai during a protest at a building site at Park Motors, North Circular Road, Dublin.
Last November the High Court granted an order to Collen Construction Ltd against the Building and Allied Trades Union and anyone aware of the order restraining picketing on three sites in Dublin in Kildare.
Mr Roddy Horan BL, for the company, said some 20 other individuals were at the Park Motors site causing chaos.
Mr Patrick O'Connell BL, for the defendants apologised on behalf of his clients. But he added that they had genuine and reasonable concerns about conditions within the industry.
The men were released by Mr Justice Thomas Smyth after a sum of €4,250 was gathered from up to 100 builders who had come to the court for the hearing and paid to the court. The defendants also gave undertakings not to breach the court's order.