Five men were arrested on Saturday 18th August following a disturbance at the Church of the Irish Martyrs in Letterkenny, County Donegal. The men are scheduled to appear before a judge at a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court on the 19th August.
According to Journal.ie, the arrests were made after a public order incident occurred between groups of people at the church, just as the 11:30 am mass was about to begin.
A disagreement broke out in the church's porch and quickly escalated, spilling into the main area of the church.
Several units of local Gardaí were present in the car park and intervened to restore order, detaining different groups involved in the altercation.
The incident coincided with the first-anniversary mass for a well-known local member of the Travelling Community. Fr. Dominic Thoomkuzh, who was leading the Sunday service allegedly asked those attending to remain inside the church during the disruption. The mass was briefly interrupted and delayed but was eventually concluded.