A judge yesterday warned users of mobile phones which rang in his court that their handsets would be confiscated and owners would have to pay £50 to charity before they got them back.
Judge James Scally said anyone who failed to turn off or mute their phones would have them seized by gardai and handed in to court.
He was speaking after the phone of a man sitting at the back of the Dublin District Court started ringing. The man got up to leave with the phone still ringing when the judge called him into the dock.
When the man said it was "a business phone", Judge Scally ordered a garda to take it from him.