The High Court has refused an application by a prisoner in Mountjoy Prison for an injunction against the Minister for Environment to proceed with Thursday’s referenda.
Mr Patrick O’Doherty (42), who began a two-year prison sentence last October for tax fraud, today claimed his constitutional right to vote had been denied him because he is in prison and sought to prevent the three referendums going ahead.
Mr Justice Roderick Murphy, however, said he was refusing Mr O’Doherty’s application as the fact that he was in prison in Dublin did not deny Mr O’Doherty his right to vote in his own constituency in Limerick.
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But he said Mr O’Doherty’s attempts to remedy the situation and bring it to the attention of the relevant authorities in the form of a letter on May 24th, did "not seem to be prompt".
Mr Justice Murphy said that contrary to Mr O’Doherty’s claim that he had received "accidental notice" of the upcoming referenda, there had been "plenty of press coverage" of the imminent poll as early as January 2001.
Earlier today Mr O’Doherty, who represented himself, told the court that it was "perverse in the extreme" that the referendums were due to go ahead because there is currently a verdict pending from the Supreme Court which may allow prisoners to exercise their right to vote.
Last June convicted arsonist Mr Stephen "Rossi" Walsh won a High Court case allowing his the right to vote. The case is being appealed by the State to the Supreme Court.
Mr Justice Murphy said Mr O’Doherty’s complaint was "not a novel issue. It is a matter that has been dealt with extensively before". He added that with regard to those cases the High Court was bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court.
Mr O'Doherty, however, told the court he intended to appeal today’s decision to the Supreme Court despite being refused leave to do so by Mr Justice Murphy and said: "I am entitled to exercise my vote".