A publican who was jailed for contempt of court after allowing music to be played in his bar is expected to appear in court today to apologise.
William Creagh, of The Joshua Tree, Blarney Street, Cork, was jailed by Judge Patrick Moran yesterday because, said the judge, "he doesn't give two hoots about the court."
"I don't like sending him to prison but I must because otherwise the whole system becomes a joke," said Judge Moran. "This was a blatant breach of a court order."
The background to the case is a planning issue and in two previous court appearances an undertaking was given that no music would be played in the premises.
Nearby residents had complained about the noise.
Yesterday, evidence was presented to Judge Moran that music had, in fact, been played there.
Judge Moran said he had to make a stand.
"A court order has to be respected and if it isn't, the system breaks down. The whole city would be laughing at me and other judges and people would do whatever they wanted."
Mr Creagh will be given an opportunity to purge his contempt after spending a minimum of 24 hours behind bars.