Poor box monies totalled €1.5m last year; Almost €400,000 of total paid into Kerry District Court

Almost €400,000 out of a nationwide total of more than €1.5m was paid into Kerry District Court poor boxes last year, writes Anne Lucey and Dan Buckley

Figures from the Courts Service show €1,533,610 went to charities nationally in lieu of fines or convictions for mostly minor offences across district courts in 2016, a rise of €200,000 on the 2015 figure. Sixty per cent involved road-traffic offences.