Ireland should televise court cases like they do in the US to help people understand the justice system better, according to Newstalk presenter Sinead Ryan.

American audiences can tune into a dedicated TV channel that broadcasts every twist and turn of high profile cases.

In Britain, meanwhile, the sentencing remarks made by judges are recorded.

Speaking on Lunchtime Live, Sinead Ryan said she was previously a court reporter in the district court - an experience she described as a “hoot”. 

“You’d have dog licences, TV licences, petty theft - all the kind of stuff that you’d see on Judge Judy,” she said. 

Ms Ryan described the show as her “guilty pleasure” and expects there would be a “huge market” for footage of Irish court cases.

“We have lots of times when there’s a court case on in Ireland, we don’t get to hear all the evidence,” she said. 

“Of course we don’t because we’re not in the courtroom. 

“So, you’re relying on reports from journalists and court reporters on the news - who do a fantastic job. 

“However, sometimes a judge’s decision comes down and you kind of hear people going, ‘What were they thinking?’ or ‘I would have given him this, that or the other.’”

18/10/2022. Regency Hotel Gangland Murder Trial. The court case of the murder of David Byrne and the role played by Gerry Hutch will start at the Special Criminal Court today. Byrne was shot dead during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on 5 February 2016, a murder which escalated a feud between the Hutch and Kinahan Organised Crime Groups which has resulted in 18 people being shot dead. Photo show a heavy presence of armed gardai at the Criminal Courts of Justice today. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Ms Ryan also said she believes broadcasting court cases would help educate people about legal issues in Ireland. 

“Justice should be blind but it should also be seen to be done,” she said. 

“If we opened it up and had… a court TV channel where people could see justice in action, maybe a lot of the decisions that are taken… would be open to scrutiny? 

“Or at least people might understand the law and how things [work] a little bit more?”

Coleen Rooney leaves The Royal Courts of Justice after her libel case with Rebekah Vardy. Credit: Lucy North/Alamy Live News

Ms Ryan said she did not think family cases should be televised as “that’s nobody’s business”; however, she believes criminal cases should be broadcast.  

“I think it could be very interesting to see what type of evidence is brought, how cases come about, how barristers do their job and indeed juries,” she said. 

“Obviously, you put restrictions in place – you’re not going to show the jury and you can even pixelate the faces of defendants because we don’t know till the end whether they’re going to be guilty or innocent.”

Although broadcasting is not allowed inside a courtroom, members of the public are allowed to observe court cases that are not held in private.

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Main image: Armed Gardaí outside the Criminal Courts of Justice for the sentencing of Jonathan and Patrick Dowdall, 17-10-2022. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews