A man was charged yesterday in connection with criminal damage occurrences at many State facilities, and he made his court appearance in Dublin, reports RTE.
Dublin District Court saw an appearance from David O’Callaghan, of The Fairways, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, County Wicklow, this afternoon.
Section 2 of the Criminal Damages Act accused the 40-year-old on five counts of criminal damage.
The court was informed that at 2:15 a.m. on the previous day, a white Ford Transit van executed a reverse u-turn outside the entrance of Áras an Uachtaráin, after which it reversed back inside the gates and departed, reports RTE.
The vehicle continued on to the Custom House, where it again forced open the gates by reversing into them.
The truck then turned onto Merrion Street Upper, where it crashed through three gates—the North Road gate at Government Buildings, the main gates of the Department of the Taoiseach, and the back gates of Leinster House—into and surrounding the Houses of the Oireachtas, reports RTE.
The North Road gate, in particular, suffered significant damage, the court heard, leaving it cracked and wide open.
The anticipated cost of gate damage is in the tens of thousands of euros.
Police According to Will McCarthy, the defendant was taken into custody immediately, charged, and warned the Pearse Street Garda station, reports RTE.
The court heard that all of the instances were documented by CCTV, and on two occasions, the vehicle was observed swerving to escape oncoming traffic.
According to Gda McCarthy, there could be further charges in this instance.
Gardaí objected to bail citing a number of factors, including the gravity of the acts, reports RTE.
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