Minister Takes Defamation Case - Four Court Dates - No Appearance - Interlocutory Injunction Granted. Defendant No Court Notification Until Day After First Sitting. No Solicitor No Witnesses Allowed.
- seantech11twine197
- May 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 12
The facts of this case are absolutely bizarre to say the least and has brought the Irish Government and the Irish Judicial System itself under the spotlight, with growing wide spread public attention, for scrutiny and examination.
Ms Keane has informed me that not one solicitor firm she has contacted in Kerry will represent her. She has been literally blacklisted.
What is going on here?
Why are solicitor firms in the locality refusing to represent an Irish citizen?
NO SHOW: by Minister at any of the four sittings.
This case began on the 7th May 2025, however, Ms Keane states she didn't receive the court document to appear in court until, Thursday the 8th May 2025, the day after the first sitting. On a social media post she stated: she was not aware of the proceedings until 5.40 that evening, 7th May 2025, when people contacted her stating the case was being broadcast and reported on Virgin Media News, RTE, Journal.ie, Independent and social media.
Michael Healy Rae was not at the court so I did not get to meet him.
I have another article about the case prior to that date and rather than repeating all the same information in this article you may read it here first: https://www.onlinenews.ie/post/most-extraordinary-case-in-tralee-circuit-court-7th-may-2025-defendant-states-she-didn-t-receive
I thought I had seen it all until I attended this case, it was just extraordinary.
Do the public have any say in the enforcement of court rules when Judges seem to act as if they are the only rule in the room, and court rules are seemingly made up by them as they go along depending on their discretion and humour on the day? Even Barristers and Solicitors seem to become victims to them at times afraid to challenge their decisions.
Do we have court rules that are written into law or don't we?
Judge was stickler for court rules, or was he?
Judge Munro allowed this initial case on the 7th May 2025 to proceed when in fact he had no plaintiff present and had no proof if the defendant had in fact received any notification to attend the court. (Defendant says she received court documents on the 8th May 2025 the day after the first sitting.) How can you have a court case with no Plaintiff or no Defendant?
Solicitors or Barristers representing a Plaintiff are not the Plaintiff.
The way this situation has been allowed to develop over the years in Irish courts is ridiculous. It may be acceptable in special circumstance to not have a plaintiff present but certainly a no show for the duration of a case is disrespectful to the court itself, witnesses and especially to the defendant.
What does this say about our Irish Judaical System? I can find no legal reasoning for this practice in searches through statute laws. I emailed the law society for clarity but no response yet as of now.
Burden Of Proof:
I am not a solicitor and I have no legal qualifications but there is some information about this topic online. Looking there at the legal standing of a plaintiff in a Court in the context of an interlocutory injunction, it seems that the applicant, (Plaintiff) "bears the burden of proof". But the applicant in this case did in fact, of himself, present no proof, as he was not in attendance to do so in any of the sittings. How can this be acceptable in any court of law?
Stating a fact:
I am not here to specifically criticise Michael Healy Rea but to state a fact, he didn't show up in court to present the evidence or take questions in regard to it. If he could not appear personally from Ministerial duties, there were three large televisions on the wall near the judge and at the very least, a video link to the plaintiff could easily have been established.
Michelle Keane with Barrister Mr Shanahan outside Tralee Court House 21st May 2025.
No solicitor in Kerry will represent her
Ms Keane was left representing herself with barrister Ed Shanahan merely acting as McKenzie Friend after legal argument with Judge Munro about directly briefing a barrister Mr Shanahan under High Court rules. Ms Keane has informed me that she cannot get a Solicitor in her locality to represent her. This was proven somewhat in the court room on the day when a solicitor present was asked to represent her but it transpired that a partner in his firm objected.
Judge Munro wouldn't allow any witnesses to take the stand for Ms Keane
Judge Munro noted that Ms Keane issued subpoenas in the belief she could cross examine these individuals, but advised those individuals would only be able to provide direct evidence and not a cross examination.
Now this was definitely the strangest part of the case, I must say I have never seen this before. I understood from the previous sitting on the 13th May 2025, that Judge Munro had asked Ms Keane to subpoena witnesses and in response Ms Keane had subpoenaed several witnesses but then at this sitting on the 21st May 2025, Judge Munro would not allow any of them to give evidence and allowed no appearance from two witnesses. How is an individual in court supposed to cope with that?
Subpoena issued:
Angela McAllen - Director of Finance for Kerry County Council - No Appearance
Shane McAuliffe - No Appearance
Rebecca McDaid
Bernadette O Sullivan
Sean Finucane
Rebecca Quinn
Director of finance for Kerry County Council Angela McAllen had received a witness subpoena stamped in Tralee Court office on the,16th May 2025. When she was called to give evidence, low and behold a Barrister Elisa Kelleher stood up to represent Angela McAllen stating she only got the summons that morning 21st May 2025 and would not be attending, it was past three o'clock in the day at this point.
I'm sure there have been many excuses to not appear in court but that excuse is one I would imagine would be dismissed immediately by most Judges and a bench warrant would be issued. There was no excuse sick cert or anything like that produced as far as I am aware.
There are two points of interest here:
Angela McAllen had plenty of time to make it to the court but did not show up. In general terms if someone doesn't show up in court after receiving a summons there is a warrant issued for them to appear. There are some very serious consequences for not obeying the summons. But strangely enough not in this case.
Now this is even more interesting. At the beginning of the hearing Judge Munro refused to let Barrister Mr Shanahan speak to represent Ms Keane but now we have a barrister representing the director of finance from Kerry County Council, Angela McAllen and there is no problem with a Barrister with no solicitor, as far as I am aware, representing her. No warrant was issued and the case just carried on as if nothing happened. This witness was a very important part of the case for Ms Keane in relation to statements in the affidavits.
And what about this if you think that was a bit weird.
Judge tells election candidate Michelle Keane ‘to get proof’ in Michael Healy Rae defamation case at the sitting on the 13th May 2025 but when she went to call any witnesses to present the proof it was denied. Judge Munro had suggested to subpoena a witness Rebecca McDaid to give evidence but when she spoke up during the proceedings and wanted to give her evidence Judge Munro had her removed from the court by a Garda.
I couldn't watch anymore of it, I left before the end. I didn't know what to make of it all. If this is standard procedure in Irish courts it has seemingly collapsed to a complete shambles.
What would the outcome of the case have been if Ms Keane had had the opportunity to present her witnesses to give evidence and if Micheal Healy Rae was present to give evidence? Would the outcome of this case have been different? Was she denied her legal and constitutional rights to present her case properly?
The case is now being brought to the high Court.
In conclusion: The case certainly left me and many other people who attended with many questions:
Should the case have been allowed to continue past the initial hearing, should it have been struck off.
Did Michael Healy Rae's team, engage in professional negligence initially in the case?
Ms Keane has informed me she has made a report to the LSRA about them and this in itself may well have a bearing on the case outcome in this case in the long run.
Will there be an inquiry in relation to the Judges decisions.
Should the rules in relation to Plaintiffs bringing court cases to court and then not appearing personally, be changed? It is showing gross disrespect to both the court itself, witnesses and to a defendant if they are not in court. Solicitor or barristers representing plaintiffs are not plaintiffs, should this be allowed for the duration of cases?
If you bring a case to court, should you be legally compelled to appear and be prepared to prove your side of the story under oath?
Why were the witnesses not present and why was this allowed?
Why were there no warrants issued to have the witnesses brought to the court?
Why were Ms Keane's witnesses not called to give evidence?
What is the rule for a solicitor firms, refusing to represent a person?
Why are solicitor firms allowed to black list people?
I did not make it to court on the 22nd May 2025 because of other commitments.
Judge Ronan Munro granted the interlocutory injunction to deputy Michael Healy-Rae against Michelle Keane 22nd May 2025.
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