Supreme Court sits in Letterkenny for first time in north west
The Supreme Court is sitting today Monday in Letterkenny Courthouse, Donegal, marking the first ever sitting of the court in the north west.
Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell said the court was pleased to be sitting in Letterkenny, saying that 'reflects the fact that the court hears cases of importance to everyone in the State.
'It is therefore appropriate that the court should occasionally sit in locations around Ireland.'
The sitting marks the fifth time the court has sat outside Dublin. It first sat outside the capital 10 years ago when it heard cases in Cork in 2015. It has since sat in Limerick in 2018, Galway in 2019 and Waterford in 2020.
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The non-Dublin sittings were interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The five judge court is hearing an appeal by a Pakistan man whose permanent residency was revoked on the basis of the Minister for Justice's view that his residency was achieved on foot of a 'marriage of convenience'.
The court agreed to hear the appeal on the basis it concerns an issue of public importance in relation to the requirement for a proportionality assessment in a decision to revoke permanent residency.
The Chief Justice said, while in Letterkenny, the court looked forward to engaging with members of the local practising professions.
The judges will also conduct seminars with students at Atlantic Technological University and will visit two local secondary schools, Mulroy College and Finn Valley College, where they will undertake an in-person version of 'Comhrá'; a popular outreach programme which involves question and answer sessions between secondary schools and the judges, usually online.
The Citizens Information Service is hosting an event, which coincides with its 50th anniversary, involving about 30 Donegal-based civil society organisations and community groups where the judges will learn from the representatives of those organisations about their work.
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