10th March 2021
5th March 2021 – Highland Radio Broadcast
Another lively Zoom encounter with Greg Hughes this morning opened with the topic of cross border enforcement of driving bans, Seamus Gunn highlighting the difficulties arising and the complex legislation issues that require to be addressed by the UK in the wake of their exit from the EU. He explained the cross-border enforcement directive of 2015, which was initially taken up by 25 out of the 28 member states with Ireland, England and Denmark postponing and that following agreement between Ireland and England in August 2017, the recognition of driving bans which gave effect to the ban following the driver to their own jurisdiction came into force. He said that the issue that now arose was that whether as a result of Brexit, the mutual recognition remained in force. The EU directive was pre 2016 when Brexit was voted on in the UK. He was of the view that it would take a UK act of parliament to rescind the recognition but the difficulty that arose in practical terms was whether an EU Directive had to be observed in the meantime. He said that this was part of the unravelling and that while it may be played out in the courts, it would be up to the UK to bring in appropriate Legislation under a raft of headings to give effect to the exit. He explained how prior to Brexit, orders would have been enforceable across the EU. He made the point that the complexities have not been addressed and that while there is an agreement in place, the fleshing out of the nuts and bolts of the Legislation that is required to give effect to it has yet to follow, a topic which no doubt will have to be revisited in the future.
The Q & A session varied from Testamentary matters to Medical negligence to Statute of Limitation periods, being wide and varied.
Listen to the full interview below.
16th February 2021
5th February 2021 – Highland Radio Broadcast
On another Zoom morning following the introduction of new Government Legislation in respect of mandatory 14-day quarantine for passengers arriving from outside the State who fail to remain at the address noted on the passenger locator form, the penalties for noncompliance being a fine of up to € 2,500.00 or 6 months in prison, or both and the enforceability of the regulation were discussed in some detail. Our contributor, Seamus Gunn, was of the view that the regulation was unenforceable, he said that it distracted from what he believed was the bigger picture, being the tardiness with which the vaccine is being rolled out within the jurisdiction, comparing figures of 20% to date in the UK, 14% in Northern Ireland, with less that 2% in this country. He said it was not the time for further regulations which the Gardai had not been given guidelines as to how to enforce and in his view were unenforceable. He also put forward the scenario of an individual travelling into Northern Ireland and then travelling South. He referenced the Constitutional protection of one’s home and the requirement of a search warrant if it is to be entered. Greg Hughes highlighted the lack of accessibility to the Nphet evening press conferences/briefings. Seamus Gunn was of the view that the matter could be raised in the Dáil which was the proper forum in order to obtain answers to obvious questions in relation to the vaccine delay. He said that while the cavalry was coming, they had not arrived yet.
A wide and varied Q&A followed, kicking off with the complications that could arise with refunds on holiday/airline bookings.
Listen to the full interview below.