A constitutional challenge to the ban on public worship took a bizarre twist yesterday when counsel for the State could not confirm if the ban actually exists in law [1].
Businessman Declan Ganley first took the case four months ago, but it has been repeatedly postponed in the High Court.
Yesterday, he raised a recent opinion from a leading legal experts that the restrictions on public worship are merely advice, and have no force in law.
This is despite the gardai fining a priest in Cavan €500 last week for saying mass while a gathering of people were present.
Judge Charles Meenan gave the State two weeks to clarify.
Professor in law at Trinity College Dublin, Oran Doyle, said it was bizarre that [2], four months after the start of the legal case, lawyers representing the State need to take instructions on whether those restrictions actually exist.