Nine members of a Gaelic football club in Co Monaghan were given suspended jail sentences yesterday when they pleaded guilty to charges arising from a fracas in the town.
The Scotstown GAA club members, ranging in age from their early 20s to early 30s, appeared at Castleblayney District Court. The incident occurred during a disco at the Glencarn Hotel in Castleblayney on July 15th, 2002 in which a number of stewards were injured.
Four of the accused men, Brendan McCaffrey of Bough, Scotstown; Francis Caulfield of Carrowhatta, Scotstown; Damien McKenna, Toneylone, Scotstown; and Desmond Mallon of Leannaght, Knockatallon, each received four months suspended sentences on assault and public order charges.They were also ordered to enter a bond of €500 to keep the peace for two years.
Two others, Declan McCarville of Tydavnet, Monaghan, and Sean Mullen of Aghaboy, Scotstown, who also faced assault and disorderly conduct charges, were given suspended sentences of three months imprisonment and ordered to enter a similar bond.
The remaining three accused, Seamus Mullen of Aghaboy, Scotstown; Christopher McAleer of Ballinode, Monaghan; and Nicholas Corrigan of Drummons, Scotstown, who faced public disorder charges, were given two months' suspended sentences and also ordered to enter a bond to keep the peace.
The case was previously adjourned for the preparation of probation reports and victim assessment reports.
Garda Sgt Paul Carroll told an earlier hearing the fracas developed at the disco after the group had been drinking heavily earlier in the day following a GAA match. He said the trouble started when one of the accused men brought a bar-stool out on the dance-floor for a woman who had appeared to become weak.
When told by a steward that such seating was not permitted on the dance-floor, the fracas developed and a number of stewards were punched and kicked.
A defence lawyer told Judge Flann Brennan yesterday that none of the accused had been in any trouble since, that they came from respected backgrounds and some were involved in the teaching profession while others were factory workers or students.
The court heard the accused men had raised €14,000 in compensation for the victims. But a lawyer for the hotel stewards said his clients felt the amount was "inadequate" and that the compensation issue could only be resolved by civil proceedings which were separate to yesterday's prosecution by the State.