Child protection: The more things change...

Frances Fitzgerald may not have liked being ordered before the Dublin Children’s Court but at least she wasn’t threatened with jail, unlike three of her predecessors.

In 2000, Judge Peter Kelly issued an injunction against the then ministers for health, education, and justice — requiring them to provide a safe place for a severely disturbed and vulnerable runaway teenager. If they didn’t, he sensationally warned, he’d hold them in contempt of court and find a secure place for the three of them — in prison. Luckily for Micheál Martin, Michael Woods, and John O’Donoghue, the girl turned up and, miraculously, a place was found for her.

Judge Ann Ryan’s criminal court deals with children who break the law while Judge Kelly’s civil court handled those in need of secure care.