Scenes at Jobstown protest 'will remain with us always', says Joan Burton
Former Labour Party leader Joan Burton has been speaking about her experience at the protests in Jobstown which saw her remain in her car for around three hours.
On Wednesday it was revealed that a nolle prosequi is to be entered against five people who had been awaiting trial in relation to the Jobstown water protest, meaning they will not stand trial.
Speaking to Sean O'Rourke this morning on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning, Ms Burton said it was an experience she “wouldn't like anybody to have to go through” with “crowds beating on cars” containing herself and former advisor Karen O’Connell.
“I think it will remain with us always,” she said.
Speaking about the trial and the two days that she spent in court, Joan Burton spoke of the campaign carried out on social media.
'We are going to have to look at social media in the context of trials,” she said, adding: “Trolling on social media can be just horrific. You don't want to know.
“In another era, we would have called this kind of stuff and this kind of talk hate speech...it can't be healthy for the people who are writing this stuff and it's certainly not healthy for our society.”
She also rejected the idea of a public inquiry into the decision to bring prosecutions.
“We have run ourselves into the ground on public inquiries in Ireland at enormous cost and enormous expense in terms of legal advice,” she said.
The former Tánaiste also criticised the large number of lawyers and barristers in the court room, as well as some of the questioning she was subject to.
