Over €11,000 paid from Court 'poor box' in Donegal last year

Over €11,000 was distributed in Donegal from the Court 'poor box' system in 2022.

A total of €6,620 came through the Donegal Town Court office with a further €4,780 paid out from the Letterkenny Court office.

The various St Vincent De Paul charities in Donegal collected €3,090 with €1,800 of that going to the Bvallyshannon SVP branch. The Donegal Town SVP received €600 with €480 awarded to the Buncrana SVP and €200 to the Letterkenny branch.

The Donegal Hospice was the next highest beneficiary, receiving €2,200 in poor box donations, figures provided to Donegal Live from the Courts Service show.

Letterkenny Youth and Community Club picked up €1,500 while the Creeslough Community Day Centre was paid €1,300 and the Irish Cancer Society was given €1,000.

The White Oaks Rehabilitation Centre received €500 while the Donegal Women's Domestic Violence Centre was allocated €300.

Holy Family School was given €350, Animals In Need Donegal picked up €300 and the Little Blue Heroes Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation run by An Garda Siochana – was allocated €250.

Letterkenny Boxing Club benefited from €250, Donegal Scouts in Carndonagh received €200 and the North West Hospice in Sligo received €160.

The practice of courts directing that money be paid into a court poor box in lieu of or in conjunction with another penalty is a practice which predates the foundation of the State.

It is predominantly used by the District Courts who deal with criminal offences of a less serious nature than other jurisdictions. The individual amounts can vary substantially depending on ability to pay, other penalties imposed and the nature of the offences.

The option of paying into the court poor box arises usually where the offence is minor in nature and would not attract a custodial sentence. Public order offences are the most common offences for which the poor box option is given to defendants.

It is sometimes used for road traffic offences, first time, minor drug offences, and offences against property or animals.

When combined with the Probation of Offenders Act it provides an option where some financial penalty is considered merited but a conviction and fine are not.

A Courts Service spokesperson said: “Monies paid out of the Court poor box are at the discretion of the Judge and the Courts Service has no function in allocation of payments. The Courts Service issues payments from the poor box as directed by the presiding judge.

“Organisations wishing to become a beneficiary from the Court Poor Box may apply in writing to their local District Court office. Any applications received will be brought to the attention of the presiding judge."