'You're witnessing a killing over and over': Why don't we give jurors greater supports?

Apart from being thanked by the judge, and on certain occasions being excused from any future jury service, jurors are given no psychological or emotional support, even after the most harrowing of trials

A pilot programme has just been launched in Ireland to offer information to jurors in courts in Cork, Limerick, Galway, and the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin about mental health supports. File photo: iStock

When two boys were convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriégel in a 2019 trial in Dublin, the jurors who presided over the verdict were excused from further jury service for life.

In addressing them, presiding judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott acknowledged that the case had been a very difficult one.