When George Jackson reported to RTE radio last Wednesday about the sentencing of the Bohemians 'supporters' - after their trashing of the Tavern Bar - the reaction was incredible.
Resident Magistrate Barney McElholm became a Dublin hero overnight, with hundreds of listeners ringing, texting and e-mailing, praising the RM and wishing that he was on the southern side of the border.
Meanwhile, Judge Desmond Zaidan continues h
is impressive sojourn on the bench in Donegal. When a Sligo defendant pleaded loss of memory due to too much drink after seriously assaulting a female Garda in 2005, Des Z was having none of it.
"Going into the witness box and shaking does not wash with me. If you are genuinely remorseful you would do something about it. Nobody forces you to do it, you must know your own limits. Two years on and you are still overindulging. How your liver is still intact is still a miracle."
He refused to refer him to the Probation Service and, at another sitting at Glenties District Court, he thundered: "The amount of Garda resources wasted on drunken louts, these drunken fools having to be taken home by the Gardai.
It could only happen in Ireland. The abuse of alcohol is a serious problem and so is having Gardai dealing with these louts."
He was also critical of the laws for dealing with public intoxication that limits the maximum fine for drunkenness to 126 euro no matter how many times a person re-offends. "Wake up Oireachtas, is what I say," he warned and added that the Act was passed in 1994 but was more suited to the 17th century. "It's not meeting the real problems of society today. It is an insult to society."
As regards Barney becoming much loved in the south, it must have really bewildered the Bohs supporters when they found themselves being interrogated by a PSNI officer…from Galway! One thought though…had four Derry supporters received a similar sentence, would so many of you be cheering the tough RM?
