Cork has by far the highest number of jury duty no-shows 

In Cork 19,050 people were called to sit on a jury last year, of whom 1,789 attended as requested. Another 8,325 were excused for valid reasons while 7,951 were listed as having not turned up. Picture: Dan Linehan

Nearly 12,000 people avoided jury duty last year without a valid excuse as Covid-19 played havoc with court sittings

More than 173,000 people were called to be a member of a jury in 2020 despite the pandemic, according to figures provided by the Courts Service.

Of that, over 103,000 (around 60%) were excused for duty for a variety of reasons including medical conditions, self-employment, and most frequently, Covid-19 deferrals.

A detailed breakdown for some counties shows the rate of no-shows fluctuating wildly with nearly 42% of calls in Cork resulting in a person not turning up.

The figures show that in Cork 19,050 people were called to sit on a jury last year, of whom 1,789 attended as requested.

Another 8,325 were excused for valid reasons while 7,951 were listed as having not turned up.

In Dublin, the rate of no-show was much lower at 2.6%. In the capital, 49,070 were called up for jury duty of whom 5,573 attended.

Another 42,411 were excused while 1,286 were listed as having failed to turn up.

The rate of no-show in other counties was: 14.7% in Donegal, 18.1% in Kildare, 2.9% in Limerick, and 10% in Wicklow, according to the records.

A spokesman said the majority of those 'excused' last year related to the very high volume of jury trials that were deferred because of Covid-19.

He said: “Those summonsed to serve were excused when the upcoming trials were deferred to later dates, rather than they not being available to serve.

“The Courts Service appreciates those who attended for jury service and thanks them and those we had to excuse, due to deferred trials during the pandemic.” 

Enormous efforts had been made to run trials safely, including the hiring of large venues such as theatres and sports venues, including Croke Park in Dublin.

The spokesman said that despite all the challenges, there had been no difficulty in filling juries and that jurors had responded to say they felt safe while serving.

Of the 173,295 people called for jury duty last year, nearly 28% — or 49,270 people — were in Dublin with the next highest total in Cork with 11% (19,050). 

In smaller counties, the numbers asked to serve came to triple figures with 400 in Monaghan, 500 in Roscommon, and 650 in Laois.

The Courts Service said: “In order to comply with Covid-19 restrictions, trials were moved to different counties at short notice, and some of these trials were later cancelled which resulted in the dissolution of jury panels.” The service also said that since April last year all jury summonses had been centralised to Castlebar, Co Mayo, which is expected to lead to a more efficient service for overseeing the process.