Burkes granted access to audio recording of Circuit Court hearing in June
The Burkes’ request for a new judge to hear their religious discrimination case against NUI Galway will be heard by the High Court sitting in Cork on a date in November.
The Burkes appealed to the High Court in June this year after Judge Petria McDonnell refused to recuse herself from hearing their case. Judge McDonnell had suggested that the Burkes’ claims were “moot” (irrelevant and unnecessary) at the outset of a Circuit Court hearing in Galway on 18 June 2019.
The High Court appeal came for mention before Mr Justice Seamus Noonan at the Four Courts on Monday 22 July 2019. The appeal was listed for hearing in Cork in November, with the exact date to be determined at a call-over in October.
Separately, the Burkes have been granted access to the DAR (Digital Audio Recording) of the Circuit Court hearing in Galway on 18 June 2019. The DAR is a technology based way of recording what was said in a courtroom. The recording can be played to confirm what was said during a hearing.
The application for access to the DAR record was heard by Judge Petria McDonnell at Clifden Courthouse on Monday 29 July 2019. During that hearing, the Burkes again asked Judge McDonnell to recuse herself from hearing their religious discrimination case. Judge McDonnell again refused to recuse herself.
The Burkes have set out their concerns regarding the conduct of Judge Petria McDonnell in a formal submission. The submission has been lodged with Charlie Flanagan TD (Minister for Justice and Equality), Emily Logan (Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission), and more recently, Seamus Woulfe SC (Attorney General) and Her Honour Judge Patricia Ryan (President of the Circuit Court), among others.
Official responses to this submission will be published on burkebroadcast.com in due course.
