Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I confess that it is not something that I had thought of. From the perspective of being in the courtroom when jurors are being sworn, we always think of the obvious differences. For example, ethnicity is an obvious one that we can see concerning someone’s difference.

Dr. Mbugua said earlier that people who are ethnically different often do not get to serve on juries, or it may be impossible for them to do so. I do not agree with that because my practical experience is that increasingly, as Ireland is becoming more diverse and, more importantly, as non-Irish people, if I can use that term, those born and living here or those who came here, are becoming citizens, more and more of them are finding their way into jury pools and, consequently, are being selected for juries. Would Dr. Mbugua also be happy with the idea of people giving advance notice of their ethnicity or something like that? How does she think that would make people feel?