Traveller girls ‘cannot have mobile until wed’

A Traveller women in court for driving with a mobile phone told a judge she could not have been holding one as her culture would not have allowed her to have one until she was married.

“It’s part of our culture,” recently married Rosie Ward told Sligo District court.

Ward, aged 18, with addresses at 64 Joe McDonnell Drive, Sligo, and Tower Hill, Ballymote, said she could not have been holding a mobile phone while driving at Lake Isle Road, Sligo, on Sept 15, 2011.