N80 static camera offenders appear in Carlow courthouse
A traffic enforcement camera parked on a lay-by. Image: iStock/powerofforever
DOZENS of motorists appeared before a sitting of Carlow District Court last week in relation to alleged speeding offences on the N80 that were recorded by a static speed camera at Graiguenaspiddoge, with 12 people receiving convictions and fines from Judge Geraldine Carthy.
In total, three people were convicted and fined €320, while nine received a lesser fine of €300, with all fines due to be paid within 90 days.
Almost all of the offences before the court on Wednesday 21 January occurred in June 2025, shortly after the camera became operational on 23 May.
Prosecutions of speeding offences take place by fixed charge notice (FCN) of €160, as well as three points being added to the person’s driving licence. In this instance, the defendants before the court had not paid their FCN within the required timeframe of 56 days or were contesting the offence.
Judge Carthy took a sympathetic approach to some defendants who showed up to court, striking out cases where the defendant was detected travelling just over the 100kph limit.
In one instance, Blake Kiely of Old Bridge Glen, Lucan, Co Dublin, who was detected travelling at a speed of 116kph in a 100kph zone, told the court that he only found out about the FCN on 21 December 2025 when his old housemate called him to say it was at his property. Judge Carthy struck out the case and told Mr Kiely that “it pays to go to court” and warned him to make sure he did not breach the new limit of 80kph.
At the time of the camera’s installation, the speed limit on the N80 was 100kph; however, in November 2025, Carlow Co Council passed a vote to reduce the speed limit on the N80 and N81 to 80kph. The new speed limit came into effect on 18 December 2025.
Static cameras measure a vehicle’s speed passing a fixed point and records the instantaneous speed of the vehicle.
Money was set aside in Budget 2025 for the installation of these cameras, with the wider nationwide initiative of automated enforcement of road traffic offences aimed at reducing speeding and improving road safety.
The locations of the static speed cameras were selected based on fatal and serious injury collision data from the last seven years and speed data, as well as feedback from stakeholders.
