Tag Archives: Ennis Court

A 32-year-old man is to appear before a sitting of Ennis District Court this morning (Thursday) charged in connection with an armed robbery at a retail outlet in Bunratty, County Clare. An investigation commenced at approximately 2.30pm yesterday when a lone male entered a retail outlet in Blarney armed with a knife. He threatened staff before leaving the scene on foot with a small amount of cash. No one was physically injured during the incident. During a follow up operation involving gardaí attached to Shannon Garda Station, a 32-year-old man was arrested a short time later. A small amount of cash and a knife were recovered. A car was also seized as part of the investigation. The arrested man was taken to Ennis Garda Station where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 for questioning. The investigation is ongoing.

By Carol Byrne A THREE-year-old child was left alone in a bedsit, while his mother went off to see her boyfriend. The incident led to a case before Ennis District Court this week, where the 22-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of child cruelty. Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecuting, outlined how the gardaí received a call at approximately 1.30am on October 26 last from a tenant in the property that the defendant occupied. Gardaí heard from a man, who was living above the defendant’s bedsit, that he had heard a child crying in the room below. The child, the court heard, was three years and eight months old. “He was calling ‘Mum, Mum’ for about 20 to 30 minutes. Garda Noel Pearse went to the address and heard the child crying. The door was locked. The garda told the child to go back from the door. He comforted the child,” Inspector Kennedy said. …

By Nicola Corless THE president of the district court sat in Clare for just the second time in the State’s history last week. Judge Rosemary Horgan presided over Family Law sittings on Thursday and Friday on the invitation of local district court Judge Patrick Durcan. Clare’s family law lists are notoriously long, with as many as 60 cases listed to be heard in one day. Last year, in addition to the two scheduled family law sittings each month, 17 special sittings had to be held here, presided over by visiting judges, in an attempt to deal with the backlog of cases. Marie Keane of Callinan Keane Solicitors explained the significance of the visit. “This is just the second time ever a President of the District Court has come to sit in Clare. The previous one was Judge Smithwick so this is quite an honour for her to come here,” she said. “Judge Horgan”, according to Ms Keane, “was concerned with …

THE level of casework in Clare’s Family Law Court has been described as “insanity”. Sixty individual cases were listed at last week’s sitting, compared to a typical list of 25 to 30 cases in other areas. As each case is held in camera, with no member of the public allowed to attend, some litigants in family law proceedings must wait their turn for several hours in the corridors at Ennis Courthouse. Dr Carol Coulter, the director of the Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) and former Irish Times legal affairs editor, made her dramatic comment about the “insanity” of the long list of Clare cases after attending last week’s court. This was her first time attending the childcare court in Ennis and she expects to be back again in the next eight or nine months. Dr Coulter, commented, “There were 60 cases on the list. That is just insanity. How could you give a proper hearing to 60 cases? Given that …