Woman fined for being intoxicated at Portlaoise Hospital

A woman who was arrested for being intoxicated at Portlaoise Hospital has been fined. 

Margaret Connors, 29, of 207 St Brigid’s Place, Portlaoise, who appeared via video link, admitted being intoxicated at the hospital on December 26 last. 

Sgt Michael Tarpey told a sitting of Portlaoise District Court that gardai attended the hospital at 5.25pm on the date and arrested the defendant for being intoxicated. He said she had 127 previous convictions. 

Solicitor Aonghus McCarthy said his client was originally from Dublin and had been “in a relationship with a local man who was about 20 years her senior” and had been introduced to heroin. 

Mr McCarthy said she was in custody now and “is fresher than I have seen her in weeks” for  a woman who would have suffered an awful lot of abuse. He explained that she is linking in with her drug counsellor. 

Noting the facts and the large number of previous convictions, Judge Patricia Cronin fined the woman €100 with two days in prison in case of default.