TD’s partner tells court 'she has upset a lot of people' and he thinks that is why he failed to get L-test appointment

John Mountaine said of his partner Violet-Anne Wynne TD: 'Unfortunately she is a politician and there is no filter from the brain to the mouth and she has upset a lot of people'

John Mountaine, Pella Rd, Kilrush, had a three-month ban affirmed for driving unaccompanied on a provisional licence. He told the court his partner, Clare TD Violet Anne Wynne, above, 'has upset a lot of people and I believe this is why this [getting a driving test appointment] has taken so long'. Picture. Brian Arthur

The partner of Independent Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne, told a court that “she has upset a lot of people” and said he believed this to be a reason he has not been able to get an appointment for a driving test in almost four years.

At Kilrush Circuit Court on Tuesday, John Mountaine (42) of Pella Rd, Kilrush, unsuccessfully pleaded with Judge Francis Comerford not to affirm the three-month driving ban that was imposed on him in the district court in June.

After Judge Comerford said he would be affirming the three-month ban on Mr Mountaine for driving unaccompanied on a provisional licence at Lack West, Kilmihil, Co Clare, in October 2021, Mr Mountaine’s solicitor, Patrick Moylan told the judge Mr Mountaine would like to personally address the court.

At Kilrush Circuit Court on Tuesday, Judge Francis Comerford affirmed the three-month driving ban that had been imposed on John Mountaine (pictured) for driving unaccompanied on a provisional licence. File picture

Mr Mountaine told Judge Comerford: “The reason why I didn’t apply [for the driving test] until 2020 was because I couldn’t afford it before then to do the test.”

Violet-Anne Wynne was elected a TD for Sinn Féin for Clare in the February 2020 general election and Mr Mountaine said: “My wife got a job and I applied for the test.” He told the court: 

Unfortunately she is a politician and there is no filter from the brain to the mouth and she has upset a lot of people and I believe this is why this has taken so long. 

He said: “I don’t understand why it has taken so long — that is the only reason I can come to.”

Appealing to Judge Comerford not to impose the driving ban, Mr Mountaine said: “I need my licence to be able to get to work. I am asking, impose any fine on me you would want but please let me keep my licence because it affects me majorly.”

However, after hearing Mr Mountaine’s personal plea, Judge Comerford said he would affirm the ban and that Mr Mountaine could sit his driving test after the ban expires.

Judge Comerford said Mr Mountaine’s account of the course of events of waiting for a driving test appointment for almost four years was “inherently improbable” without providing any correspondence to back it up. 

The judge noted that Mr Mountaine was first convicted of driving without a valid licence in 2013 and he still is without a full licence.

State Solicitor Aisling Casey said a cursory look at the Government website in question show that Mr Mountaine could be invited to sit a driving test in October.

In reply, Mr Moylan said: “There is no getting around that Mr Mountaine made a driving test application in November 2020 and we are now in July 2024." Mr Moylan continued:  

The Shannon Driving Test centre has not provided him with a date despite what it might be saying on the website. Whatever their website is saying, Mr Mountaine is the reality here judge. Almost four years and he has not got his test.

Mr Moylan said the almost four-year wait “is extraordinary — it is in his interests and no one wants more to get his test than Mr Mountaine”.

Judge Comerford commented that there would be thousands of Clare people who have sat their driving test in that period.

Earlier, Ms Casey told Judge Comerford that Mr Mountaine has a number of previous road traffic offence convictions and four previous convictions under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr Moylan said that Mr Mountaine has now withdrawn his application for a driving test at Shannon and has applied for a test at a Dublin test centre.

Mr Moylan said: “He is a 42-year-old man who has a partner and six children ranging in age from 14 to 2. His driver’s licence is something that is very important to him.

Mr Moylan added: “He commenced a carpentry business, Monty’s Carpentry, and it has taken off and he is doing very well.

“He wants nothing more than to get his driver’s licence. If he is disqualified from driving, he can’t do his driving test.”