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.

Ward, who got married last month, told the court that unmarried Traveller girls are not allowed to have mobile phones.

“They can only use them after they get married,” she said.

“It is part of our culture, and when Travellers take the oath on the Bible in court they don’t tell lies.”

However, Judge Kevin Kilrane did not agree with Ward’s claim, saying he had heard a lot of things in court before, but never anything like this.

The judge said he believed Ward was trying to bamboozle the court.

Judge Kilrane convicted Ward of using a mobile phone while driving, and fined her €80.

He also convicted her of driving without insurance in a separate matter at Temple Street Sligo on Sept 25, 2011, and fined her €400.