AN ACTIVIST ACCUSED of criminal damage to the Department of Foreign Affairs with paint during a pro-Palestinian rally has been remanded on bail pending directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Palestinian solidarity campaigner Léna Seale, 32, a self-employed creative, is accused of damaging the facade of the building on 18 November last year.

Ms Seale of Grangegorman Upper, Dublin 7, appeared before Judge Paula Murphy at Dublin District Court today.

On behalf of the investigating garda, court sergeant James Ward told the judge that a file had been submitted to the DPP and directions were still awaited.

Judge Murphy ordered Ms Seale, who has yet to indicate a plea, to appear again on 22 March.

The DPP’s decision is required to determine her trial venue and whether the case should be heard at the District Court level or go forward on indictment to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

The brief procedural hearing did not require any facts related to the incident or evidence from the defence to be given.

The value of the alleged damage was not stated.

Ms Seale remains on bail but has been ordered to obey a condition not to go within 200 metres of the Department of Foreign Affairs at St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

About 20 supporters turned up at the Criminal Courts of Justice with banners and stood on the steps where they unfurled a massive Palestine flag as the case was going on inside.

The 18 November rally saw thousands march through the streets of Dublin to show support for the Palestinian people and to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The protest started at the Garden of Remembrance and continued across the River Liffey.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign organised the demonstration.

Some protesters took part in a sit-in at the Iveagh House, an eighteenth-century Georgian building that contains the Department of Foreign Affairs.