Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne appears in court over drink-driving charge

FIANNA FÁIL TD Malcolm Byrne, who is accused of drink-driving over the summer, has appeared in court and has had a hearing date set.

In an earlier statement, the Wicklow-Wexford TD said gardaí arrested him at a mandatory checkpoint in the city centre while he was travelling from his hotel in Dublin to Dublin Airport.

Mr Byrne (52) of Ramsgate Village, Gorey, Co Wexford appeared before Judge Tom McSharry at Dublin District Court on Monday.

He faces a single charge stating that on 28 May, at Pearse Street garda station, within three hours of driving a 2025-registered car, the concentration of alcohol in his urine was 156 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres, exceeding the statutory limit of 67 milligrams.

The offence, contrary to section 4(3)(a) & (5) of the Road Traffic Act 2010, is punishable by a fine of up to €5,000, and/or a maximum six-month jail term.

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He sat silently on the defendant’s bench while his privately retained barrister Peter Paul Hughes addressed the judge. Counsel confirmed it was the first date the matter was before the court, and he sought an order for disclosure of the prosecution’s evidence.

Judge McSharry acceded to the request and ordered compliance by 27 February next, telling prosecuting Garda Anna Murphy to hand over the material to Mr Byrne’s solicitor.

The judge then scheduled the politician’s hearing for 23 March 2027.

Mr Byrne, elected to the Dáil in 2024, stood down as chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence after his arrest.

In a political career which started when he was elected to Gorey Town Council in 1998, Mr Byrne served as a senator for the Cultural and Educational panel from 2020 to 2024.

As a TD, he represented the Wexford constituency in a 2019 byelection but lost his seat in the general election 71 days later, and regained it in 2024.