A District Court Judge was forced to abandon a court sitting in Co Clare yesterday because the heating had been switched off, leaving solicitors, gardaí and the public to endure cold and draughty conditions in a local community hall.
Dozens of defendants, solicitors and many gardaí wore coats in court.
Judge Joseph Mangan told Shannon District Court that it "wasn't fair to the public" to have to sit in such conditions and said the "operators of this hall are blackguarding the public" by switching off the heat before proceedings had concluded.
Before adjourning yesterday's hearing, Judge Mangan explained to the court that this had occurred in the same hall at a previous sitting.
On that occasion the Judge spoke to the hall caretaker and advised him that this should not happen again.
The judge was about halfway through the court list for the day before he adjourned the remaining cases to next Thursday in Shannon or to other dates.
Judge Mangan did however ask anyone who had travelled a long distance to come forward so that their cases could be heard, rather than have them travel to Clare again.
A spokesperson for the Courts Service last night apologised to the Judge, the court staff and the public for the inconvenience.
It is understood that the service has no immediate plans to construct a new courthouse in Shannon.