Major changes are needed to address issues in the Irish Court system according to a local senator and General Election candidate. Senator Micheál Carrigy believes the current system is allowing too much leniency when it comes to serial offenders pleading guilty. The Fine Gael Candidate and his children were the subject of a number of threats in 2021 and 2022.
The contact ranged from Facebook messages, to texts, to a voice mail, all of which included various threats to either the Senator or his children. The culprit was sentenced to a 5 month suspended jail sentence, with Senator Carrigy branding it as too lenient. Speaking in the run up to polling day, the Longford based Senator believes the current system is not using resources effectively when it comes to sentencing:
Senator Carrigy was also critical of how current court sittings are taking up Garda resources. He argues that many Gardaí are left waiting hours in court in order to give evidence and that their time should be prioritized in order to get them back on the beat:
