Probe sought as prisoner taken through North on way to Donegal court - Donegal Daily

A solicitor has asked for an independent investigation after a man was transported through Northern Ireland by the Irish Prison Service on the way to a District...

A solicitor has asked for an independent investigation after a man was transported through Northern Ireland by the Irish Prison Service on the way to a District Court sitting in Donegal.

Patrick Irwin was before Donegal District Court, sitting at Ballyshannon courthouse on August 26.

Irwin, 44, of Carrowgubaddagh, Ballisodare, Co Sligo, is charged with having one kilo and nine grammes of cocaine for the purpose of selling or supplying to another, at Keadue West, Co. Roscommon on August 16, 2026.

Irwin, who is on remand at Wheatfield Prison in Dublin, was brought to Ballyshannon courthouse by four officers from the Irish Prison Service.

Irwin was unrepresented when he appeared before Judge Ciaran Liddy, but addressed the court himself on the issue , saying: “On the way here, I was brought into Northern Ireland, into Enniskillen, without authorisation. I was threatened that If I didn’t shut up, he would throw me out by the neck.”

Holding a piece of paper, Irwin said he had “marked the route” taken, including via Blanchardstown and Cavan and added: “They brought me into Northern Ireland without authorisation. The Irish Prison Service has no right to bring me into Northern Ireland. They realised and started panicking and then went arse about face.”

Irwin asked that he call each of the prison officers as a witness. Judge Liddy told Irwin that he had no jurisdiction in that matter and said he could possibly take it up at “another venue”.

Now, Mulholland Law has called for an urgent investigation into the issue.

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“Let’s be frank here this incident is of considerable gravity and warrants an urgent independent investigation,” Mr Ciarán Mulholland said.

“However, given the dysfunctionality of our criminal justice system we remain one of the few EU members without a Prison Ombudsman hence an absence in reality of impartial oversight and no watchdog to scrutinise the situation.

“The fact that an IPS escort felt it was appropriate to drive through a neighbouring jurisdiction without authority is not merely reckless and irresponsible but illegal.

“It questions the legality of our client’s imprisonment in the neighbouring Northern jurisdiction but also raises possible road traffic offences whether the vehicle was even insured to travel outside the 26 Counties of the Republic.”

Mr Mulholland said he has been instructed that Irwin was “threatened and verbally abused when he flagged the vehicle was in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh - some 40 minutes from crossing the border from Co. Cavan - thus this was not an accident but intentional.”

Mr Mulholland said it was “simply not good enough” at a time when senior Gardai object to bail and “then have a blasé IPS escort travel across an international border outside the jurisdiction for 1 hour for their own geographical convenience.”

Mr Mulholland added that the Irish Prison Service may be liable for the false imprisonment of Irwin in Northern Ireland “without any lawful authority”.

Mr Mulholland confirmed that he has since made representations to the IPS Director General and Justice Minister and added: “Until the reunification of the island and the operation of an All-Ireland criminal justice system the IPS must abide by the laws of the jurisdiction alone”.