Worries of 'listening device' at Cork court after hearing aid picks up private talk between barristers

A solicitor at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Anglesea Street in Cork heard voices on his hearing aid when he left a courtroom which he then discovered were of barristers talking on another floor of the building

Concern was expressed about what was later described as a 'listening device' found under one of the panels in the ceiling, which was later found to be a loop induction for hearing aids.

A conversation between barristers in the privacy of the bar room of the Criminal Courts of Justice on Anglesea Street in Cork was overheard by another lawyer wearing his own hearing aid — prompting concerns that there was “a listening device” under a panel in the ceiling of the room.

The Courts Service on Friday dismissed the notion of any such listening device being secreted in the ceiling, stating that it was a loop induction for hearing aids and that this has now been deactivated as a result of complaints about the matter.