Dublin, 2:30pm, 28th September, 2023 At the Criminal Courts of Justice, in a landmark case for environmental activism, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists Rónán Ó Dálaigh and Art Ó Laoghaire were convicted on charges from 10th October 2019 for locking themselves to the gates of the Dáil at Merrion Square South, to escalate their demands for urgent, comprehensive government climate action in the fact of the climate crisis. Both defendants were sentenced to €500 fines. Rather than the ‘just cause’ argument put forward in the defendants’ case - that the wholly inadequate response of the Government to the climate crisis compelled them to engage in civil disobedience - the judge focussed on the possibility that Dáil staff may have been inconvenienced by the lock-on, due to vehicle access from the Dáil car park being blocked. After removal of the locks by the Gardaí, Ó Dálaigh and Art Ó Laoghaire were arrested under Section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act.