A law company is calling for a full inquiry 44-year-old man who is facing a cocaine possession charge, was allegedly transported through Northern Ireland while being brought to Ballyshannon District Court.
Patrick Irwin from Corrowgubaddagh, Ballisodare, County Sligo, was being transported by the Irish Prison Service for a bail hearing, when the vehicle crossed the border and remained in the North for almost an hour.
Mulholland Law is arguing that the Prison Service has no legal basis to detain Mr Irwin in Northern Ireland.
In a statement today, the company’s Principal Solicitor Ciarán Mulholland says this incident is of considerable gravity, and warrants an urgent independent investigation.
However, he says because Ireland does not have a Prison Ombudsman, there is no watchdog to scrutinise the situation.
He says the fact that an Irish Prison Service escort felt it was appropriate to drive through a neighbouring jurisdiction without authority is not merely reckless and irresponsible but illegal. He adds it not only questions the legality of his client’s imprisonment, but also raises the question of whether the vehicle was even insured to travel outside the Republic.
Mr Mulholland says he’s been instructed that his client was threatened and verbally abused when he flagged the vehicle was in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh – some 40 minutes after crossing the border from Co. Cavan – thus, he says, this was not an accident, but intentional.
