Letter to the Editor of the Irish Times:  by Vincent Salafia.  June, 1999.

Sir- Members of the Law Reform Commission recently entertained discussion of the Celtic Brehon Laws while seeking solutions to the increased costs of civil litigation and criminal justice administration. Despite existing as the common law of Ireland for two entire milleniums, the Brehon Laws were ignored in the early 1920s, when the Constitution of Saorstát Éireann and the legislative structure of Government was altered and again in Bunreacht na hÉireann, in 1937. Unfortunately, it appears they will be disgracefully overlooked again. Why?

According to Ms. Hanafin, in Dail debate of law reform on 12-3-98, "Brehon law did not recognise the concept of negligence. A modern day Fionn MacCumhaill running through the woods would be more likely to sue the local authority for twigs sticking in his feet rather than picking them up with his toes. The law of negligence is out of control and needs to be corralled before we are completely fleeced." (Dail Debate 3-12-98)

In 1963 a judge in County Kilkenny District Court, heard the case of Dunphy v. Bryan. In a negligence action by a car driver against the owner of a pet lamb, escaped from the yard, the judge stated:

"I thought that it might be in point to consider the Brehon laws. There is appropriate material in An Senchus Mor, Vol IV, and in a work known as Duala, compiled by Cormac MacArt and others to which I had not access, but to which reference is made in the handbook. For various reasons those early laws have been so long inoperative that it would be wrong to throw them into the scale against the common law, even if I were not bound by higher authority to follow the common law. It is to be hoped, however, that they will be carefully studied when we embark upon law reform."

Thirty six years later, with reform finally at hand, Mr O'Donohue, T.D., in his April 23 speech at the Distillery Building states, "restorative justice is not a new concept and indeed, Jim Consedine, our guest from New Zealand, points in his paper to its strong Celtic tradition and the links with Brehon Law. The challenges we face, however, have to do with its application to today's complex society where no panacea exists for addressing crime issues."

I am curious as to where these distinguished Irish speakers have gained their expertise, since Brehon law is not prominent in any Irish primary or secondary school syllabus, and certainly not found in any Irish law school. (except at the Burren College of Art) The truth is, the great body of Brehon Law manuscripts lies in scattered collections and remains unpublished, more than a century after their rediscovery. Perhaps it's time everybody got to read them, since it appears the Irish people have already been fleeced for far too long.

Sincerely,

Vincent Salafia, Esq.