Slamming the politically-motivated nature of Masterson’s arrest Leeson said: “Everything about Scott’s arrest smacks of political policing designed to cause maximum disruption to Scott, his partner and their young family. Their decision to carry out the arrest with children in the house on a Monday morning when they knew full well that Scott and his partner were due in work was petty and vindictive. It stands in sharp contrast to the ‘arrest by arrangement’ approach adopted by the state when it comes to arresting bankers and other members of the elite.”

Defending the right to protest Leeson said: “’The blockading of Joan Burton’s vehicle in Jobstown was an entirely justified act of mass peaceful protest. Hundreds of citizens, including Scott Masterson, brought their anger in a controlled and measured way directly to a minister who has been responsible for implementing a programme of brutal, anti-community austerity policies. To stand up against such injustice is an act of patriotism not criminality.

“Today’s arrests are a blatant and crude attempt to criminalise the anti-water tax movement and to frighten and deter others from demanding a better future for their children. Thankfully ever greater numbers of people are seeing through the façade of democracy and justice in this state. For many people today’s arrests will confirm, yet again, that there is one law for the elite and another law for the rest of the population.”

Calling for the immediate release of all those who have been arrested Leeson said: “’All of those who have been arrested this morning should be released immediately without charge and no further arrests should be made in relation to the Joan Burton protest. There was no crime so there should be no criminal investigation. The resources that the Gardaí and the state have deployed today would be far better used investigating the activities of the banks, the tax-dodging corporations and the other parasites that make up the golden circle.”