Jailed for repeated driving offences

A 59-year-old Cavan man, who was found to be 12 times over the drink driving limit, has been jailed for a total of nine months for a series of persistent driving offences.

Judge Michael Connellan said he was staggered by the number of times Finbar Cooney, with an address at Corratinner, Virginia, has been caught driving without insurance during a recent sitting of Cavan District Court.

The court heard that Cooney was stopped by gardaí in Virginia on January 5, 2025, for driving uninsured.

A subsequent urine test showed he had 334mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine, up to 12 times the legal limit.

“That is heavily intoxicated,” Judge Connellan remarked.

Sergeant Damien Galligan also outlined to the court that Cooney was stopped by gardaí on November 5, 2025, near Corratinner, Virginia, while driving uninsured and was stopped again on November 16, 2025 at Billis, Virginia, driving a vehicle for which he had no cover.

The court was told that Cooney was already banned from the roads and has served time in prison before for motoring offences.

“He has gone to jail and it has made no difference,” Judge Connellan said.

Solicitor Rosin Courtney, for the defendant, told the court that he was a man who was estranged from his wife, had difficulties with alcohol, and was struggling with debt.

She said the defendant “had a few cows” and felt that he can’t pay his bills if he doesn’t make use of his car, adding that he was “not a bad person”.

Ms Courtney told the court that the defendant also now had a young man who was willing to collect him from his home and drive him around.

“That ship has sailed regards all that,” Judge Connellan said.

The judge added: “With the amount of issues we have on the roads and then you have people taking liberties like this... What if he knocked somebody down while taking these liberties?”

Judge Connellan imposed a four-month prison sentence on Mr Cooney for driving with no insurance on November 5, 2025, and another five month prison sentence, to run consecutively, for the offence on November 16, 2025. He also disqualified the defendant from driving for 10 years, and fined him €500.

For driving uninsured on January 5, 2025, Cooney was banned from the road for four years, with a €500 fine. The judge also disqualified him from driving for six years for driving while exceeding the alcohol limit on the occasion.

“He has received nine months in prison and a significant ban from driving,” Judge Connellan concluded.