http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L87w6YH1KA

YouTube: Hugh O’Connell

INDEPENDENT TD MICK Wallace has said that he was the victim of an unlawful arrest as he was questioned repeatedly today about allegations published earlier this month which are now the subject of legal proceedings.

Wallace was speaking at a press conference where he and fellow independent TDs Clare Daly, Luke Ming Flanagan and Joan Collins sought to highlight problems arising out of the recent investigation into the cancellation of penalty points.

Wallace was quizzed by RTÉ crime correspondent Paul Reynolds about his alleged arrest for directing traffic while working on a construction site on Thomas Street in Dublin in September 2000 and a subsequent settlement that was reported in the Irish Independent recently.

In a heated exchange, Wallace said the story was false, he did not break any law but that he was not permitted to talk about the case as there is a “pending legal battle on it”.

“I will tell everything that has to be told about it in my own good time when my solicitor tells me I can do so,” he said.

A short time after the exchange – which you can view in full above – Wallace stated there was no discretion used by gardaí when he was arrested.

“There wasn’t any discretion used when I was arrested. I was the victim of an unlawful arrest and it’s a bit disingenuous to try and spin it here to the divert from the real issues that are at hand,” he said.

Shatter: ‘Do I think it was a mistake to mention the incident surrounding Deputy Wallace? …Of course I do’

Kenny: ‘The difference is Wallace broke the law, and Shatter didn’t’