A 44-year-old man has been fur­ther remanded in cus­tody until Septem­ber 17, as his inde­pend­ent surety for bail was not present at Sligo District Court on Monday.

The court was told that she was in hospital. It was the fourth time the defendant has appeared in court seeking to be admitted to bail and for his independent surety to be approved.

Patrick Irwin of Car­rowgub­bad­agh, Bal­lis­odare, Sligo is charged with the pos­ses­sion of one kilogram and nine grams of cocaine, and the pos­ses­sion of cocaine for the pur­pose of selling or sup­ply­ing it to another at Keadue West, Co. Roscom­mon on August 16, 2026.

The defend­ant was gran­ted bail with con­di­tions at a spe­cial sit­ting of Sligo Dis­trict Court on August 21 by Judge Ciaran Liddy.

The judge remanded him in cus­tody with con­sent to bail to Mullingar Dis­trict Court on August 24. Bail was set at €5,000 self with one inde­pend­ent surety of €30,000, of which €10,000 must be lodged in cash. 

Bail was not approved in Mullingar nor at Ballyshannon District Court on August 26. Irwin was then further remanded in custody to Sligo District Court on September 3.

At that sitting, Detective Sergeant Brendan Bourke outlined that Ms Ann Boyd was the defendant’s nominated surety.

He added that the nominated surety had two AIB Bank Accounts of which one has a total of €48,558.44. On March 6, €40,000 was transferred into one account.

Sgt Bourke said that Ms Boyd told him that €38,000 of the transferred money was from a claim 12 years ago. He asked Judge Éiteáin Cunningham for time to inspect the independent surety’s documents to prove that the funds were legitimate.

Judge Cunningham then remanded Irwin in custody with consent to bail to Monday, September 7.

At Monday’s sitting, Dt Sgt Bourke outlined to Judge Deirdre Gearty that he met Ms Boyd on three occasions, September 1, September 3, and September 4. He added that he did not receive any documents from Ms Boyd.

Dt Sgt Bourke said that he did not believe that Ms Boyd fully understood the responsibilities of acting as an independent surety and that she believes that she just has to lodge the money for Irwin to get bail.

Dt Sgt Bourke said that Ms Boyd was presently at Sligo University Hospital as she suffered a stroke last Friday. He added that Ms Boyd’s son Rory currently resides with her and that he is believed to be a close associate of the defendant’s partner.

Dt Sgt Bourke outlined that Mr Boyd had eight previous convictions for drug offences. He added that Mr Boyd’s most recent drug conviction was in 2019. Dt Sgt Bourke said that Mr Boyd was also convicted of having a mobile phone in prison in 2021.

Irwin who had no legal representation due to the ongoing dispute between criminal law solicitors and the Minister of Justice over legal aid, told Judge Gearty that he did not have a chance to talk to his independent surety.

Judge Gearty said that she could not advance the matter today. Irwin replied that he has been in custody for the last three weeks.

Judge Gearty remanded the defendant in custody with consent to bail to Sligo District Court on September 17.

Irwin complained that his family was not allowed into the bail hearing. Judge Gearty explained that it was a designated family law day.

Irwin replied that it happened on the last occasion as well and that he only found out about Ms Boyd this morning.

Judge Gearty told Irwin that his family could pay for a solicitor to represent him.

Article funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.