Driver banned for horse chaos in Mullingar

AT the end of the Rubberbandits’ hit song in praise of their Horse Outside, the lead singer promises to take the beautiful bridesmaid “out to Mullingar”.

However, Limerick men who go to Mullingar for the horses might get a little more than they bargained for as one man discovered when he lost his driver’s licence at Mullingar District Court.

Niall McNamara, of 46 Hyde Road, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, admitted being one of dozens of people whose vehicles blocked the Mullingar bypass while they cheered on two racing horses.

Sgt Roger Nicholson explained how at 8am on November 28 last, a couple of hundred yards on the Dublin side of a well-known filling station, more than 20 vehicles were gathered.

The owners were watching sulkies, low carriages pulled by horses, being raced westwards along the bypass and continued for a mile after gardaí arrived, until the race was over.

Spectators covered all lanes of the bypass, the sergeant said, and added that despite the blue lights and sirens being activated, the cars would not pull in to allow gardaí pass.

McNamara, a 34-year-old father-of-two, was driving a 4x4 which had three passengers leaning out windows, wearing no seatbelts but encouraging the horses.

The image recalled a YouTube video of a similar event earlier last year with spectators hanging out windows, as cars, four abreast followed racers Little Chief and Little Daddy.

McNamara has previous road traffic convictions for offences, including carrying a child with no seatbelt and failing to display tax.

Patricia Shaw said her client now saw the serious error of judgment he’d made in taking part in the event and acknowledged the disruption and potential danger to other road users.

The self-employed car dealer wanted to apologise for his actions, she said, adding that the incident and the prosecution had caused stress to him and his family.

Judge David Anderson said the incident showed “a total and absolute lack of consideration for other road users”.

“Everything else pales into insignificance,” he said as he convicted the Limerick man of careless driving and banned him from the roads for two years, noting that the offences were “all for sport”. He also imposed a fine of €750.

A charge of obstructing gardaí was taken into consideration.