Letterkenny Court
Two women who were part of a crowd who allegedly made abusive remarks to members of the Orange Lodge at a local courthouse have appeared in court.
The women, Louise Murray and Tracey Hume, are charged with engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour in the foyer of Letterkenny courthouse on October 8th, 2014.
It followed an incident in which chants of ‘Let it Burn, Let it Burn, Let it Burn’ were heard by members of the public including members of the Orange Order.
There were also claims that voices from the crowd said “your day is coming” and “we’re watching you.”
The alleged threats coincided with an appearance by others in connection with an incident in which the local Orange Order Hall in Convoy was destroyed in an arson attack.
Neither of the two accused were connected with that incident.
However they were brought before the court arising out of the disturbance at Letterkenny Courthouse.
An official complaint was made by Mr Robert McGonigle, a member of the Orange Lodge who said he felt intimidated for his property and his family.
Inspector Goretti Sheridan said statements were taken from a number of witnesses including bystanders who said the crowd were chanting ‘Let it burn, let it burn’ and it was the women in the crowd who were doing the chanting.
Ms Murray, 26, from Rooskey in Convoy, admitted the offence through her solicitor Kieran Dillon.
Mr Dillon said Louise Murray was ashamed of what had happened and that she knows the people involved and that nothing has happened in the year and a half since the incident.
Mr Dillon said his client suffered from depression. She had a lot on her mind at the time of the incident and had little memory of it because of the high emotions.
However solicitor for Tracey Hume, 37, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client did not make any disparaging remarks whatsoever and denied being a part of the group chanting sectarian remarks.
He said that someone merely identified Mr McGonigle in the crowd in the foyer of the courthouse and Ms Hume had simple replied ‘Aye’ and remarked that she had gone to school with him. The incident had caused her ‘untold heartache’, said Mr Gallagher.
He said that Ms Hume came from the same religious background as Mr McGonigle.
Judge Paul Kelly described the situation as “entirely intolerable” and “very sinister.”
Having read a reference from a priest, the judge said of Louise Murray’s role that “it does not sound like a form of depression to me”.
The judge said the matters before the court were serious and made more serious by their location at the court house where a group of people “obviously with a different set of beliefs were intimidated by another group of people”.
He ordered probation reports into both women and adjourned their cases until April.