The Supreme Court has upheld a decision by the High Court to impose a seven-day prison sentence and £5,000 fine on Liam Lawlor for non-compliance with a court order.
However, it was the decision to defer his sentence until January 2nd so that he can go to New York to see his son for Christmas that has proved the most controversial aspect of the decision. Accusations of a two-tier justice system have been levelled at the judiciary.
Legal opinion on the matter is divided. Most agree it is a rare occurrence for anybody to be sent to prison for contempt of court but some say that when the Supreme Court upholds a High Court order it should take immediate effect.
There have been cases in the criminal courts where people on bail have had sentences postponed for a short time for humanitarian reasons, such as illness, but as one legal source put it, the reason in Lawlor's case could appear frivolous.
Recent cases have alerted the public to an apparent difference in treatment, where people found in contempt were taken immediately from the court in handcuffs.
This arises from the fact there are two kinds of contempt. The first is where a person fails to comply with a court order, like Lawlor. The second is contempt where a person does something in the court.
This latter was the contempt which led Denis Riordan, a Limerick lecturer, to be taken from the Supreme Court in handcuffs to spend a week in jail after he refused to withdraw his allegation that three judges were corrupt.
The 13 Glen of the Downs protesters were also escorted from the court in handcuffs and taken immediately to jail after they refused to give undertakings in the court not to interfere with work on the proposed dual-carriageway.
This case contrasts with Lawlor's, even on the first occasion he was sent to jail. At that time, he was given 24 hours to prepare himself for prison.
Mr Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society of Ireland said: "If a Supreme Court appeal against a sentence fails, it upholds the High Court order. An appeal acts as a stay on the High Court order, so one would normally expect it to have immediate effect."
However, Mr Rory Brady SC, chairman of the Bar Council, disagreed and dismissed the idea of a two-tier system as "nonsense".
"You only have to look at the judgment to know that the accusation of there being a two-tier system is absurd," he said. "There are many, many cases where the courts make a decision to defer a sentence, particularly where there are extenuating circumstances."
The Supreme Court could make any order at its own discretion, Mr Brady said.
Barrister Mr Colm MacEochaidh said: "There are so few cases where people are sent to prison for contempt of court it is difficult to discern a pattern. I don't believe there is a two-tier system of justice. I don't see it that way."
In the normal way in 99 percent of contempt cases, people purged their contempt and it was extremely rare for people to be sent to prison, Mr MacEochaidh said.
Another senior legal source considered it did not infrequently happen for a contempt of court case to be postponed for a short time on humanitarian grounds.
He said he could think of one instance where, several years ago, a husband and wife disobeyed a court order. They had young children and the sentence for non-compliance with the order was postponed for a week so that they could make domestic arrangements.
One legal source who did not want to be named said the fact Lawlor was a public representative could have had a bearing on it. He said there was a curious tension between the Oireachtas and the courts.