Three Wexford farmers are due to appear in the High Court today (Thursday) following their arrest in Ferns on Tuesday.

This is the latest development in a bitter land dispute over a 150ac farm at Lodgwood, Ferns.

On Tuesday morning, two combines gained entrance to the property and began harvesting spring barley. Gardaí were quickly on the scene, and they brought a halt to proceedings.

The lands were purchased by brothers John and Michael Kinsella in 2008, but were sold last year by vulture fund Emberton Finance to John B Dockrell Ltd.

The Kinsellas had refused to vacate the lands, and planted a crop last spring.

Last week, John Kinsella was briefly jailed for breach of an injunction against him relating to the same lands. He subsequently purged his contempt and was released. The three arrested are understood to all be members of the extended Kinsella family.

Initially, it seemed that the combines were going to be impounded, but they were ultimately returned to the farmers.

Further incident

The Irish Farmers Journal understands a further incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning when a man tried to gain entrance to the lands, claiming that he had purchased the crop. Gardaí again attended the scene, but it is believed that no arrests were made on this occasion.