The High Court has granted an interim order preventing Dublin City Council from removing a giant banner proclaiming "No to War, No to Nice and No to American Terrorism" and "People before profit". The banner has been hung by builder Mr Michael Wallace from a Dublin city centre site.
The council had issued a notice late on Friday stating that if the banner was not removed by noon yesterday, they would enter the property at Lower Ormond Quay, beside the Millennium bridge, and remove it.
Mr Wallace and his company argued that, because of the forthcoming Nice referendum, the banner was an exempted advertisement and did not endanger the facade. Mr Wallace intended to remove the banner on Saturday next, the day of the referendum, the court heard.
As a citizen of the State, he believed he had a constitutional right to express his opinions and convictions on the referendum and that he was doing so lawfully. He apprehended that, unless restrained by the court, the Council intended to interfere with the exercise of those rights.
Mr Wallance said the Council's enforcement notice incorrectly stated the banner had been erected on the facade of a protected structure. It was erected on a free standing steel structure, he said.