A woman who drove while disqualified and with no insurance was given a three-month suspended sentence at Clonakilty District Court.

Gardaí stopped Pascalene Daly (52), of Deelish, Drimoleague, at Shanacrane East, Dunmanway, at around 1.35 pm on August 13th 2024. The court heard that Ms Daly had two previous convictions for driving without insurance, for which she had been disqualified from driving for one and four years respectively.

Solicitor Conrad Murphy, defending, said: ‘My client lives in an isolated, rural area and has a sister with special needs who is 62 years of age. Ms Daly is her sole carer and is receiving job seekers’ allowance.’

Judge Joanne Carroll said: ‘She’s shown significant disregard for the law and she’s in court this morning with her mobile phone going off.’

Mr Murphy said his client’s insurance premium increased from €450 to €790 ‘and she couldn’t afford to pay it’.

The court heard that Ms Daly had worked in three bakeries in Dunmanway, Durrus and Bandon and was a home help carer until 2009. Since then, she has been caring for her sister who has Down Syndrome.    

Judge Carroll said: ‘This is a most unfortunate situation. This lady has two convictions for driving without insurance and because she did not attend court, she was disqualified from driving. The unfortunate event is that she did not appeal against this and has not dealt with her affairs since. It’s regrettable in the extreme.’

She suspended the three-month jail term for 12 months and struck out the charge of driving without insurance.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.