The Socialist TD has said that his arrest was ‘an exercise in pure political policing designed to damage the anti-water charges movement’ and also ‘an incredible waste of Garda resources.’
Mr. Murphy’s comments come after his release from Garda custody, having spent over eight hours at Terenure Garda Station in Dublin. He, and three others, had been arrested on a charge of false imprisonment of Tanaiste Joan Burton during a heated protest at Jobstown, Dublin, last year.
The three other men taken into custody were anti- Austerity Alliance councillors Kieran Mahon and Mick Murphy and Scott Masterson, a spokesman for Tallaght Eirigi Republican.
All three men were released without charge at around lunchtime.
The Socialist Party TD added that the incident had been “a major mistake’, and that the Government ‘will regret this.’ He described the arrest as “a clearly trumped-up charge”.