The High Court dismissed a judicial review application by Tomás Ó Gríofáin, who sought to stop two prosecutions arising from an alleged drink-driving incident and challenged the use of an English-language breathalyser form.
The judgment, delivered by Charleton J on 23 April 2009, concerned events on 4 March 2006 near Whitehall, Tullamore, County Offaly. Garda James Downey stopped the applicant while he was driving. The judgment says their initial conversation was in English, which the applicant had used. After the applicant began speaking Irish, Garda Downey used Irish-language guidance to continue the procedure.
The applicant provided two breath samples. The machine produced a result indicating alcohol above the statutory limit. He refused to sign the acknowledgement form because it was printed in English. The judgment records that he denied guilt; Charleton J made no finding on that question, which he said was for the trial court. Two summonses, written in Irish, were later issued: one alleged drink-driving and the other alleged failure to sign the breath-test acknowledgement. About a year after the incident, the machine statement was sent to the applicant translated into Irish.
The applicant asked the court for declarations and orders requiring Irish translations of relevant District Court Rules and Circuit Court Rules, and for Irish or bilingual versions of breath-test certificates. He also sought orders preventing the Director of Public Prosecutions from proceeding with the cases. The judgment says several requested instruments were already available in Irish, with the Circuit Court Rules the exception. The applicant was facing trial in the District Court; any Circuit Court appeal would arise only if he were convicted.
Charleton J said the applicant had not shown a real risk that he would receive an unfair trial because the machine’s form was in a language he fully understood. The court noted that the summonses were in Irish, relevant statutes were available to him in Irish, and there was no evidence he had difficulty dealing with Gardaí in Irish. The judgment also said arrangements appeared likely to be made for an Irish-speaking trial judge, and that an interpreter could be available if needed.
On the Circuit Court Rules, the judge said the applicant had not explained how they would assist him or identified which provisions he needed. He found no demonstrated risk of an unfair appeal. The court therefore dismissed the application. It did not decide whether the applicant committed either alleged offence; those matters remained for the criminal proceedings.