Court delays cause Limerick family to share same train carriage as accused

A LIMERICK judge and a TD highlighted delays in the court system within days of each other.

Judge Tom O’Donnell, who has raised the time it takes for justice to be served on a number of occasions, was speaking during a case at Limerick Circuit Court,

The offences, which the defendant pleaded guilty to, date back to late 2017 / early 2018 - almost six years ago.

The garda who said Facebook messages were involved explained they had to apply to Facebook in America, which took two years to get the requested evidence.

“There is no criticism. We are where we are,” said Judge O’Donnell. The judge spoke of the “large passage of time” when sentencing the guilty party.

“It has taken so long to get here - it is May, 2023. Both parties have been living with the case,” said Judge O’Donnell, who added that it was “most unfortunate” for the victim they had to “wait this long to deal with matters”.

Days later Deputy Maurice Quinlivan said: “We have a state-of-the-art courthouse opened in 2018 on Mulgrave Street, that is rarely if ever, fully occupied, despite a large backlog of cases, cases that need to be addressed. It has six courtrooms, and it would be quite unusual to see more than half of these courtrooms in operation on any given day.

“Two weeks ago on the court roll over call there were 246 cases waiting in the circuit court. At present, those cases are all awaiting a trial by jury, those are just criminal cases. In the civil circuit court there are around 1,000 cases waiting”.

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The Sinn Fein deputy, who was speaking on the Court Proceedings (Delays) Bill 2023, said facing a court appearance be it as an accused, a witness or a victim is a stressful time in people’s lives.

“Especially for the victim, assuming they have survived, it can often be worse for their families. Enacting this bill on its own will not ensure that trials are held promptly.

“We have a shortage of judges that has impacted the ability to consistently deliver justice in a timely manner.

“The recent commitment to 24 new judges in 2023 with a further 20 to follow is welcome. However, more needs to be done to ensure that trials are held in a fair and prompt manner. The backlog impacts countless lives,” said Deputy Quinlivan.

The TD said it has been confirmed to him by members of the legal profession that the Central Criminal Court will not sit in Limerick again this year .

“This must be reversed, and the court must sit in Limerick again in 2023 to try deal with some of the backlog which has accrued. The failure to sit locally has a huge knock-on financial impact for those involved and their families. Rather than travelling to the courthouse and home, many must embark on long journeys to and from Dublin, often for extended periods.

“They often must travel up and down to Dublin many times in a month, at expense or spend days in expensive hotel rooms, the price of which are often beyond the means of many. I know one family who shared the same carriage as the accused on a train from Limerick to Dublin.”

Deputy Quinlivan concluded: “We need a permanent sitting of the central criminal court in Limerick.

“We cannot accept having a specialist criminal courthouse where at present a number of courtrooms are unused every day.”