A group of evangelical preachers acquitted of breaching the peace while allegedly using homophobic language in Dundalk, Co Louth are suing the Garda and the Attorney General.
The three Northern Irish men claim gardaí breached several of their constitutional rights, including freedom of religion and association, when they were arrested on Market Square on September 21st, 2021.
The men were using a speaker and microphone to preach the gospel and were handing out pamphlets detailing Bible passages.
Robert Ervine and Ryan Williamson from Banbridge and Sean Tully from Belfast stood trial over the matter in Dundalk District Court in June. They were charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and failing to comply with the direction of a garda.
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Garda Michael Brady told the court he heard the men using homophobic language. ‘They were saying homosexuals are going to burn in hell for ever and sodomy was a sin,’ the garda told the court.
When it was put to him that the accused enjoyed freedom of speech and association, the garda replied they were not entitled to insult or belittle others.
Mr Tully and Mr Williamson denied singling out homosexual people in their sermon. Mr Irvine did not appear at the hearing.
The court saw video footage showing Mr Williamson saying both homosexual and heterosexual people must repent before God. Mr Tully said he quoted from the Bible and said unrighteous people will not enter Heaven.
The preachers said they were policing spiritual issues in Dundalk. Both men claimed the LGBT community were weaponising the Garda and the PSNI against them by making complaints about their preaching.
Judge Eirinn McKiernan said everyone is entitled to their views. She said she had doubts the men’s actions were likely to cause a breach of the peace and dismissed the charges against all three men.
The men, who are represented by Mulholland Law, lodged papers in the High Court in Dublin on Wednesday against the Garda and the Attorney General seeking damages and declarations that their rights were infringed during the Dundalk incident.
According to a plenary summons, the men claim their rights, including their right of “freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion” under the Constitution were breached. They also alleged gardaí breached several of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The men have previously had interactions with the PSNI due to their public preaching activities in Northern Ireland. Mr Williamson is facing trial in Northern Ireland following an arrest in August 2021 in Larne following a sermon during which he allegedly made homophobic comments.
