'Come to the end of the road'

A Monaghan man who had “come to the end of the road” regarding the patience of Judge Raymond Finnegan was given two months’ imprisonment when he came before the court on fresh public order offences committed the previous day.

But in yet another apparent reference to the current “revolving door” system pertaining in prisons due to overcrowding, Judge Finnegan remarked that the defendant, William McQuaid (24) of Bay 4 Gortakeegan Halting Site, Monaghan Town, would “probably be out within a couple of hours anyway”.

McQuaid pleaded guilty at Monaghan District Court to charges of intoxication and threatening behaviour at Mullaghmatt, Monaghan, on June 15 last.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee said gardaí were called to that location at about 8:40pm when they saw a man known to them as McQuaid swaying from side to side and shouting abuse and threats at the public and other residents. The court heard he was slurring his words, and was arrested.

The defendant had 19 previous convictions, she said, most recently on October 9, 2024, for public intoxication and threatening behaviour, for which he had been given a suspended two-month sentence. Earlier convictions were also outlined, all relating to drink-fuelled public order offences, the penalties for which included suspended prison terms and community service. Roisin Courtney, solicitor, said her client was “his own worst enemy when the drink is in and the wit is out”. He hadn’t been in court since the October hearing, so it appeared the suspended sentence given at that point was “doing its job”, she suggested.

But Judge Finnegan disagreed, stating that the defendant had “met the end of the road” as far as he was concerned. The judge added, however, that he had no doubt, “given the state of the prisons” that Mr McQuaid would “probably be out within a couple of hours anyway”.

For the threatening behaviour a two-month prison sentence was duly imposed, with the public intoxication taken into consideration.