Move Central Criminal Court to other cities, says lawyer

A LAWYER who led the prosecution in the first murder case to be tried outside of Dublin has called for the permanent extension of the Central Criminal Court to all major cities.

Brendan Nix, senior counsel for the State in the Limerick-based trial of Johnny McNamara who was convicted last July of the 2001 murder of John O'Sullivan told a weekend conference fears that juries would be unwilling to convict "one of their own" were unfounded.

He said the experiment of bringing the Central Criminal Court to Limerick had been a success and had proved local juries were robust enough to deal with the criminals in their midst. He said the initiative should be repeated in Galway, Cork, Waterford and other major population centres.