Lenihan calls for 'period of calm' after judge's remarks

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has today called for a "period of calm" following the controversy ignited by the remarks made by one of Ireland's most senior judges this week.

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has called for a "period of calm" following the controversy ignited by the remarks made by one of Ireland's most senior judges this week.

In a lecture on Wednesday night, Mr Justice Paul Carney made criticisms widely believed to be in reference to Majella Holohan for comments she made during the sentencing hearing for the man who killed her 11-year-old son Robert.

He said her comments led to the killer being wrongly labelled as a paedophile in the media and had undermined the court's efforts to impose a sentence that would let him reconstruct his life.

Asked about the matter again today, Mr Lenihan said he did not believe judges should be able to censor victim impact statements, but he repeated that the Government would consider restrictions on the publication of such statements.