Beloved former court reporter is given retirement send off at Nenagh District Court

The role of journalists in portraying the administration of justice in the courts is a highly important function, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath stated at a sitting of Nenagh District Court recently.

The judge made her comments as she joined with solicitors, staff from the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána and members of the media in paying tribute to Tipperary Star reporter, Ronan Dodd, who retired last weekend after 50 years’ working in the newspaper business.

She said the issue of reliable reporting was becoming even more important nowadays in the era of social media, fake news and artificial intelligence.

The judge said that having court reporters who had the ability to take accurate notes and provide reliable news on the administration of justice was a vital service.

The contribution of such people made a huge contribution to the whole justice system and generated public trust and belief.

The judge said Mr Dodd, who first started covering sittings of Nenagh District Court in 1987, had carried out his duties in a highly professional manner.

She said she had known him all those years, going right back to the time when he first started out covering the courts as a freelancer, who at the time was working for the national and local media.

“It was always a great pleasure to see him in the courtroom. Not only did he consistently report the proceedings of the court accurately, but his friendly disposition helped to ease the stresses and strains that people working in the system often encountered.

“Your years of service and commitment and public service to the court and Tipperary is much appreciated,” the judge told Mr Dodd.

“We do not have enough of your kind of commitment and diligence and the more of that we get; the better this country will be for it,” she said. Other tributes were also made to Mr Dodd, and speaking on behalf of the solicitors, Elizabeth McKeever said the courts were very lucky in Nenagh to have the calibre of reporters that were present to cover court cases.

Mr Dodd and his colleagues carried out their work in a very professional manner and all the other professionals working in the system locally had a great rapport with members of the media. That so many people had turned up in court on Mr Dodd’s final day to wish him well was a testament to his popularity.

Ms McKeever and the judge pointed out that Mr Dodd had won a National Justice in Media Award in 2022, which highlighted the difficulties the court often encountered.

Among others who paid tribute to Mr Dodd were Barrister Kenneth Kerins; Sergeant Regina McCarthy, on behalf of An Garda Síochána; Court Clerk, Eithne Canning on behalf of the staff of the Courts Service, and Peter Gleeson of The Nenagh Guardian on behalf of the media.

Mr Dodd, who worked for the Tipperary Star for the past 14 years, recalled the many highlights of his distinguished career.
He said he had really enjoyed his long and illustrious working life as a reporter and thanked everyone for their kind comments.