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Diarmuid O’Cadhla, Tom O’Connor and Anthony Walsh, who have addresses in Cork City, had denied two counts of criminal damage to street signs on Victoria Road.
The trio also denied two counts of criminal damage to signs at Victoria Cross and one count of criminal damage to sign on Victoria Street, Military Hill in Cork City. O’Cadhla is a former Cork County Council Councilor, where he represented the People’s Convention.
The Cork District Court heard that it was the State’s case that Ó Cadhla (59) from Upper Beaumont Drive, Ballintemple, O’Connor (59) from Mangerton Close, the Glen and Walsh (55) from Carrigmore Park, Ballinlough, committed criminal damages in three streets on February 2, 2017. The crimes were contrary to the Criminal Damages Act of 1991.
Judge Paul Kelly found the facts against the three men proven.
He said he would give the men the benefit of the Probation Law if each paid 250 euros to Saint Vincent de Paul in mid-December. He postponed the case until December 16 to facilitate delivery of the funds.
Garda Detective Neil Walsh says Gardaí received a complaint from the local city hall that five street signs had been criminally damaged in three locations. The word Victoria, in both English and Irish, had been covered in black paint.
Detective Garda Walsh said that, from his investigations, he determined that this was part of a campaign by a group called the Cork Street Names Campaign.
“This is a group that campaigns against street names with connections to the British monarchy, particularly Queen Victoria, whom they called the Queen of Hunger.
“The three suspects were more or less identified: in an article in The Irish Examiner of February 3, 2017, there was a photo of two of the suspects painting the street signs and, on that date, Diarmuid Ó Cadhla conducted an interview radio with PJ Coogan on The Opinion Line on 96FM “.
Cork City Council Services Director Gerry O’Beirne said cleaning the signs and installing them in their rightful homes cost € 800.
O’Cadhla made his own defense in Irish. He insisted that their actions were not criminal and that the trio’s intention had simply been to spark a debate on the naming of streets in Cork.
He claimed that they took their action after the local authority refused to meet with them to discuss such matters.
He said commemorating Queen Victoria by naming the streets of Cork in her honor was an insult to those who died in the famine. He insisted that a large number of people supported him in his actions.
O’Connor also admitted to painting over the signs, but denied criminally damaging them.
“We did not damage anything, the signs were rusted and falling, it was justice, justice for the Irish people, I speak for myself and I am proud of what I have done.”
Walsh said he was offended by the City Council’s decision to consider MacCurtain St the Victoria Ward.
“It almost killed my soul. That man died so that we could have a free country. And they did that to his memory, terrible … we didn’t set out to do any harm, we were just making a point. “
Judge Kelly said that while he had no doubts about the sincerity of the three men’s convictions, they had been proposed in a highly calculated way to deface the signage.
“Their motives may have been to make a political comment, but that doesn’t give them the right to break the law. I accept that they did not go out to cause unwarranted damage; it was very precise damage in support of a particular point of view, but that is not allowed. I have to find the proven facts. “
Comments are closed as the case remains in court.
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