Appeal court having enough difficulty finding English-speaking judges, president remarks

The President of the Court of Appeal acknowledged significant staffing difficulties on Friday during case management for an appeal from County Longford. Mr Justice George Birmingham remarked that locating three judges capable of conducting proceedings presented a challenge, following the departure of two judges this year and the impending retirement of three more, leaving only five judges available for unrestricted sittings. The case concerns Dónall Billings, aged 67, from Drumlish, who was convicted by the Special Criminal Court in 2013 of possessing an explosive substance at Longford railway station car park in May 2011, and making false bomb reports during the State visit of Queen Elizabeth II. He received an eight-and-a-half-year sentence. Billings has appealed his conviction and sentence, with his legal team seeking an Irish-language hearing before three Irish-speaking judges, citing his right to proceedings conducted in Irish as a grounds of appeal. Mr Justice Birmingham adjourned the matter to July for date-setting, indicating he would clarify the court's linguistic capacity by then.