By Ronan Judge

A 30-year-old Galway woman has been told she is in the “last chance saloon” after being convicted for a fifth time of driving without insurance.

At Galway District Court, Judge Adrian Harris said he would give Bridget Sweeney “one more chance” and suspended in full the two-month prison he imposed for the latest no-insurance offence.

Sweeney, with an address at 73 Árd Álainn, Ballybane, pleaded guilty to a number of road traffic offences, including driving without insurance, driving without a license and non-display of an L-plate.

The court heard the offences were detected following a stop by a garda at Rahylin, Glebe on October 9, 2024.

The court was told Sweeney had a number of convictions including for driving without insurance and had been disqualified from driving at the time.

Defence solicitor Michael Cunningham said his client accepted her past record did not read well, she was not driving at the moment and did not have access to a vehicle.

He told the court that Bridget Sweeney was a mother of two young children, had struggled with being a single parent and had no strong family support.

Asking the court to show leniency and not impose an immediate custodial sentence, Mr Cunningham said his client accepted she could not drive and must respect the disqualification order that is in place.

Judge Adrian Harris said there were 11 summonses before the court and he was marking the facts proven on each summons and taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration.

He said the court also noted the accused has four previous no-insurance convictions.

He initially imposed a two month prison sentence and fines totalling €1,300.

Mr Cunningham asked the court to suspend the two month term and said his client had no one to care for her children.

Judge Harris asked the accused when she was going to learn her lesson and how could the court trust what she said about no longer driving.

He said he was prepared to give Sweeney “one more chance” but warned she was very much in the “last chance saloon”.

The court suspended the prison sentence for two years on conditions, including she not drive a vehicle in that time.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.