The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, is to contact the prosecuting authorities in the Isle of Man where an elderly Dingle fisherman has been charged with the murder of a 38-year-old woman.
Mr Benny Moore, has been unable to leave the Isle of Man since October 28th, when he was charged with the woman's murder.
No date has been set for a hearing. The case, which has been adjourned a number of times, is scheduled for mention in court again on March 4th. It is not clear if this will be a committal hearing.
Mr Moore, who will be 79 next month, was visiting Douglas in the Isle of Man last October 25th. He had been drinking with a female friend on the night of October 27th. The woman, of South African origin, accompanied him to his room.
She became ill during the night and vomited and Mr Moore called an ambulance, but she died before she got to hospital. Preliminary reports, backed up by the hotel manager, stated that she died from choking on her own vomit.
Mr Moore was arrested almost immediately and later charged with her murder.
His family are worried about his welfare. He has been released on bail after being held in custody for eight weeks.
However, he has not been allowed to leave and is becoming depressed over the numerous adjournments.
His family point out he has not been convicted of so much as a parking offence in Ireland and there were no checks with the gardaí in Dingle to establish his good record.
He has also been refused bail back to Ireland, despite an extradition agreement between the two areas. Mr Cowen met the family yesterday morning.
"The position is that if we can contact the prosecuting authorities to see how quickly the case can go to trial, we will be prepared to do that," he said on Saturday night in Dingle where he was opening the Valerie O'Sullivan photographic exhibition at the Paidi Ó Sé football weekend in Dingle.
Mr Moore had been visited by consular and embassy staff in the past.
Everyone understood the State could not interfere with the criminal justice system, and the family were not asking that the Government interfere, Mr Cowen said.
Anything he could do, he would, he said. His Department had already been in touch with advocates involved in the case.
The procedures on the Isle of Man were independent procedures but Mr Cowen was contacting the prosecuting authorities to ask if matters could be expedited without interfering with due process.
In terms of the charge, it was the first time a person was allowed out on bail on such a charge, Mr Cowen said. So there was an acknowledgement of Mr Moore's age and circumstances, he said.