A Dublin judge presiding over the capital's TV Licence prosecutions has slammed RTE for what he described as elitism, "Godlike personalities", and "freeloaders" while defendants were "crippled with the cost of living".
Dublin District Court has a special weekly sitting for cases brought by An Post against TV owners who have not paid their €160 annual television licence fees.
Today's list featured 159 prosecutions, but before hearing the cases, Judge Anthony Halpin delivered a strongly-worded preamble about the ongoing controversy at the national broadcaster.