Ennis District Court

By Gordon Deegan

A judge was asked today (Tuesday, October 25) to dismiss a mart assault charge against farmer son of EuroMillions winner, Dolores McNamara.

Solicitor Daragh Hassett made the application at Ennis District Court to Judge Mary Larkin for the case dismissal against his client, Gary McNamara, after the alleged injured party failed to show up to court for the contested assault case.

In the case, Gary McNamara (43) of Ruan Manor, Ruan, Castleconnell, Co Limerick denies the minor assault charge on Bernard Earley at Ennis Mart on August 17th 2021.

After Earley failed to attend, Daragh Hassett told Judge Larkin “I am asking for the case to be dismissed.”

He said: “Myself and my client have a certain view of the alleged injured party in this case in relation to his motives.”

Daragh Hassett told the court that following the last call-over of cases in September, the case was reported in the media.

He said after the case was reported in the media, there was a phone call from the area that the alleged injured party lives in to his office “asking for a phone call back from me to discuss the case”.

He said: “I thought that this was improper.”

Daragh Hassett said that the CCTV evidence in the case is of no assistance to the prosecution case.

The solicitor added that he was resisting in the strongest possible terms a Garda application that the case be adjourned to next January.

Sgt Aiden Lonergan told the court that the alleged injured party could not come to court due to a medical issue concerning a close family relative and that Mr Hassett’s office had been informed on Monday that the alleged injured party would not be coming to court.

Daragh Hassett told Judge Larkin that there was no medical evidence before her in relation to what the alleged injured party has told Gardai.

Judge Larkin asked Sgt Lonergan did he have any medical evidence and Sgt Lonergan said: “I can’t adduce that today.”

Judge Larkin said that she would adjourn the case to November 2nd to Ennis District Court for the medical evidence to be provided concerning Earley’s relative.

Judge Larkin said that if the evidence is not before the court, “I have will to accede to Mr Hassett’s application” for the dismissal of the case.

In court last month, Daragh Hassett said that Mr McNamara was “to fully contest the case in every way”.

He said that even though the CCTV footage is State evidence, it was very helpful to his client’s defence.

Daragh Hassett said that the CCTV footage shows that “nothing happens”.

A native of Limerick, McNamara farms a substantial landholding in east Clare.

Previously, the solicitor told the court that the case is not suitable for legal aid.

Gary McNamara’s family connection to Dolores, who won a €115 million EuroMillions jackpot in August 2005, was not referred to during the brief hearing into the case today. 

McNamara has been farming land in east Clare for a number of years and in 2016 secured planning permission from Clare County Council for animal housing, feed and slurry storage facilities at Islandcosgry, Ogonnelloe, Killaloe.

Documents lodged with the Council application stated that McNamara is a beef farmer with about 100 bovine livestock units on 220 acres of “eligible agricultural land” at Tinerana Farm.

The purpose of the proposed development was to accommodate cattle stocked on McNamara’s holding over the winter period and to provide suitable storage facilities for fodder, animal waste and farm equipment required for conventional and modern livestock farming.

The documents stated that the scale of the farmyard proposal was consistent with his farming activity and numbers of animals and type stocked.