"We don't know if courts will be sitting a week's time," says local judge

A judge has spoken about the current uncertainty around the Coronavirus in Ireland, saying it's not known whether courts in the Midlands will still be sitting in a week's time. 

At Athlone District Court this morning (Wednesday), Judge Seamus Hughes referred to a recent email from the courts service discussing contingency plans in relation to the virus. 

"We don't know if the courts will be sitting in a week's time. Everything is very fluid in Ireland at the moment," he said. 

He said that if court sittings were postponed in the Midlands, special sittings in Dublin would likely be required for certain cases, and there could be a need for "emergency legislation to cover any lacuna (in the law)," as a result. 

The virus was mentioned seperately during the one of today's cases, when Judge Hughes told a defendant he had noticed him entering the court with a scarf wrapped around his face and mouth this morning.  

"I see you arrived in court Corona-proof," the judge told him. 

"Yeah, the Coronavirus is going around. I don't want to catch it," replied the defendant.   

Judge Hughes presides over the district court sittings in Athlone, Mullingar, and Longford. During a recent court sitting in Mullingar, he said courtrooms were "germ-infested" and complained that no hand sanitisers or other precautions had been made available for him or the other staff.

He said that in general, judges are of a senior age and are more vulnerable health-wise.

“I would suggest that all courts should be closed save for special courts that can be all held in Dublin,” he commented.

He said that the courtroom is “an absolutely germ-infested place on a busy day” and asked what the difference was between a packed courtroom and a rugby match.

“We are sitting beside people and we don’t know where they came from or who they associated with an hour or the day before coming to court,” he added.