Justice delayed: call to curb long trials | Ireland

In 2009 a tiger-kidnapping case lasting 65 days was said to be the longest criminal trial in Irish legal history. In the following decade a series of white-collar trials involving executives from Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent broke that record, with some cases lasting over 80 days. The trial of Seán FitzPatrick, the former Anglo chairman, who was charged with misleading auditors is now regarded as the longest criminal trial in the state. It lasted some nine months. The jury for the 126-day hearing did not even get to deliberate, as FitzPatrick was found not guilty by the direction of the judge.

In 2019, the “Mr Moonlight” trial over the killing of Bobby Ryan broke the record for the