Trial of alleged assault on Castlebar street may not be heard in Mayo
Judge Eoin Garavan indicates that it might be the best if the Circuit Court in Castlebar does not hear trial involving Castlebar men
Five men who are charged in connection to an alleged serious assault outside a Mayo pub may not have their trial heard in Castlebar.
The five men - Davitt Neary of Shanvalley, Breaffy Woods, Castlebar; Rhys Neary of Shanvalley, Breaffy Woods, Castlebar; Paul Dowding of Frenchhill, Castlebar; Oran Groarke of Ballynew, Turlough Road, Castlebar and Eben Mulqueeney of 47 Willow Grove, Mountmellick, Co Laois – all appeared before Monday morning's sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
Davitt Neary, Rhys Neary and Mr Dowding are all charged with assault causing serious harm and violent disorder in relation to an incident which took place on Tucker Street, Castlebar in the early hours of Saturday, August 23, 2025. Mr Groarke and Mr Mulquenney are both charged with violent disorder arising from the same incident.
During the brief hearing, Judge Eoin Garavan agreed with Mr Pat Reynolds, counsel for the prosecution, who indicated that the court in Castlebar has constituted that it will not hear the trial.
“Yes, I think that might be the best,” replied Judge Garavan.
Mr Reynolds added that if this is the case it may affect the timing of the trial and asked for the case to be adjourned to February 8, 2027, next for mention.
The five defendants were all present for the brief hearing but they have yet to indicate how they will be pleading to the charges.
Dispute
Up to 120 cases came before Judge Garavan on Monday morning with the majority of them adjourned into dates in 2027 as the legal aid dispute between solicitors and the Department of Justice continues into a fifth month.
Last Wednesday, the Minister for Justice met with members of the Law Society and in a statement, the Department of Justice said both sides had agreed “on the need for a short, focused engagement between their representatives over the next week, commencing this Friday.
“This engagement will explore areas for adjustments within the scheme to address the concerns being raised by practitioners, while ensuring the purpose of the reform – to speed up case resolution and improve the operation of the District Court – is preserved,” the statement said.
Solicitors in Mayo have continued to withdraw their services in criminal cases since July 1 when the new legal aid scheme was introduced and as a result it has resulted in major backlogs in both the district and the circuit court.
The October sittings of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court conclude on Friday, November 6 with the vast majority of cases in the five week sitting not dealt with.
At Monday morning's sitting, a number of cases were listed for trial in February and next July while the majority of cases were listed for mention on February 8 with the hope of fixing dates.
Some cases were listed for Friday, November 6 with the hope there will be a resolution to the dispute this week which will allow them to be finalised.