View/Open - CORA - University College Cork

Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the Judicial Studies Institute
which allowedme to pursue this studyat UniversityCollege, Cork.
A special word of thanks to my fellow Judges who participated in the focus group
discussions and who made themselves available for interview despite pressures of work
andtime.
To the staff of the Courts Service in the Circuit Criminal Courts in Dublin and Cork,
particularly Ms. Mary Crowley, Ms. Jeanette Troy and Ms. Bernie Claffey, a special thank
you for allowing access to the case books and “hidden data” on the use of the suspended
sentence.
To Mr Liam Convey, Registrar of the Central Criminal Court, for extracting data on the
suspended sentence not otherwise available.
To the staff in the Judges’ Library, Four Courts, Dublin for their invaluable assistance.
To Ms. Miriam Stack, Ms. Margaret O’Halloran and Ms. Helen O’Sullivan for their help in
typingthe thesis.
To mysupervisors, Professor Caroline Fennell and particularlyto Dr. Shane Kilcommins I
owe a special debt of gratitude for direction and suggestions.
Finally, to my wife Patricia for patience and forbearance during this long academic
captivity, a sincere thank you.
iii