An order, sought by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to prevent publication of details about a child care case, has been extended again at the Dublin District Child Care Court.
The Irish Times has been prohibited from reporting the case since May 2014, for reasons including that publication might be prejudicial to criminal proceedings. Applications to prevent publication have been made at different times by An Garda Síochána and the Child and Family Agency, as well as the DPP.
On Tuesday, counsel for the DPP told Judge Brendan Toale two people had now been charged at the Dublin District Court in connection with the case. She said reporting of the child care proceedings at this stage could prejudice their trial.
Counsel for The Irish Times argued there was a public interest in the publication of child care proceedings and a long line of authorities in which courts emphasised that a trial judge was capable of adequately informing juries about pre-trial publicity. He said orders of prohibition were extremely rare.
Giving his decision, Judge Toale said he accepted the possibility existed that if publication occurred, a trial could be delayed or permanently prevented.
Extending the reporting restriction until December, the judge said the case could be brought back to court sooner if the trial concluded earlier, if the charges were dropped, or if publication was allowed in the criminal courts of the evidence he was restricting.
