20-05-2025
Over 300 people skipped bail in Dublin in 2024
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Over 300 people skipped bail and didn't show up in court in Dublin last year.
The capital topped the list of bail skippers, with the Dublin district courts holding onto over €80,000 after 334 people didn't show up for court dates in 2024. A whopping 562 people skipped bail in Ireland's district courts last year.
Calls have been made for an overhaul of Ireland's bail system by Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú. She was speaking after figures were released to her by the Courts Service of Ireland, showing that the Irish district court system alone collected almost €170,000 in forfeited bail money.
Cork city only had 7 people skip bail in the district court in 2024. 71 people failed to turn up for district court appearances in Wicklow in 2024 and the Bray district court office collected €18,690 in forfeited bail money. 10 people skipped bail in the Cavan district courts in 2024 meaning the court kept over €8,000 euro in bail money.
Here's the full list:
District court office
Total bail money forfeited in 2024
No of people who skipped out on bail
Dublin
€80,000
334
Bray
€18,690
71
Dundalk
€7,527
32
Trim
€4,400
26
Monaghan
€3,210
13
Naas
€22,250
12
Cavan
€8,710
10
Wexford
€1,850
7
Cork City
€1,700
7
Ms Ní Mhurchú said: "This seems to be an acute issue in the Dublin district courts. Fianna Fáil is committed to building a victim-centred criminal justice system and strengthening our bail laws to ensure that courts will refuse bail if an accused is likely to commit another serious offence on bail. I am confident that Minister Jim O'Callaghan will bring the necessary reforms in this area."
The figures follow revelations in March of this year that criminals on bail were suspected of having carried out 40,348 crimes in 2024 across Ireland.
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