Will I Really Go to Jail for Drink Driving? This is The Truth.

Will I Go to Jail for Drink Driving in Ireland? | What Really Happens

If you’ve just been charged with drink driving, the fear of prison can feel like a punch to the stomach. You picture the cell. The humiliation. The company.

Here’s the reality: if this is your first offence in Ireland, jail is extremely unlikely. It’s not impossible — the law allows for it — but in reality, prison is almost always reserved for repeat offenders or cases with serious aggravating factors.

"His rule/whim was simple, and brutal:

if you were convicted of drink driving in his court,

you went to prison. First offence? It made no difference.

The result? Everyone pleaded not guilty.

Even where the evidence was insurmountable.

Why? Because a guilty plea meant an automatic jail sentence"

What Is The Punishment For Drink Driving In Ireland?

Under Irish law, sentencing isn’t random. Judges are guided by sentencing principles and the proportionality principle: the punishment must fit both the offence and the circumstances of the person in front of the court.

For a first-time drink driving conviction, the penalty is normally a fine and a disqualification, not a prison term.

That’s it.

The real risk of jail comes with second, third, or fourth offences, particularly if they happen close together or involve aggravating circumstances.

Which brings me to my next point: what are “aggravating circumstances?”

The clue is in the description. ‘Aggravating’.

The Cambridge Dictionary definition of ‘aggravating’ is “to make something worse, such as a crime”.

What would make drink driving worse?

Having an accident where someone else’s property was damaged or, worse, where you injured someone else.

But as the majority of drink driving events do not involve damage or injury to property or persons, they have no ‘aggravating circumstances’.

And that makes things considerably easier from a defence perspective.

But there's also more practical reasons why a person isn't jailed for a first time drink driving offence.

Overcrowding.

The prisons are heaving.

Prison Governors have limited spaces and have to release prisoners, even some that arrive that day.

It's a delicate balancing act. They're not going to release violent criminals out onto the street, but they're not going to keep people convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for drink driving either.

So why would a judge jail people for a first-time drink driving offence?

They'd only be released that day anyway.

The Exception That Proved the Rule

Many years ago, there was one District Court judge who took a very different approach. Happily, he’s long retired now.

Then, as now, he craved media attention, deliberately pontificating from the bench just so he’d be quoted in the media.

"Prison Governors have limited spaces and have to release prisoners,

even some that arrive that day.

It's a delicate balancing act. They're not going to release violent criminals

out onto the street, but they're not going to keep people convicted and

sentenced to imprisonment for drink driving either"

If he was presiding over a notorious case (e.g. where someone was arrested in possession of firearms) he’d refuse to use the judges private official entrance at the back of the court. Instead, he’d park outside the front of the court, just so the waiting media could photograph him as he walked in.

The man was an idiot and a bully, a deadly combination in a judge.

Even his own colleagues disliked him intensely.

I once saw him jeer and hector a woman in her fifties who had been summoned to court for the extremely serious offence of…speeding.

He demanded that she tell him what the speed limit was on the road safety signs placed at the side of the road.

When she did not respond he fixed her with a look of contempt.

This woman, a very decent woman, was someone’s mother.

And she was treated like dirt by this individual.

He now writes occasional pieces in the media on his ‘take’ on the latest developments in the law.

He’s as pointless in retirement now as he was on the bench back then.

His rule/whim was simple, and brutal: if you were convicted of drink driving in his court, you went to prison. First offence? It made no difference.

The result? Everyone pleaded not guilty.

Even where the evidence was insurmountable.

Why? Because a guilty plea meant an automatic jail sentence.

This one judge’s stance created a tidal wave of needless trials, clogged court lists, and sent appeal rates through the roof.

His District Court clerk told me appeals against his sentences rose by 900%.

Almost every single prison sentence for first-time offences was later quashed in the Circuit Court.

Because you had a sensible judge in that court, not someone who craved media attention for ego’s sake.

What Jail Really Means

Most people will never experience this for drink driving, especially on a first offence.

But here’s what it feels like if it does happen.

You’ve been jailed. You’re in such shock you can’t believe it. You’re too stunned even to cry. That will come later.

You’re placed into the immediate custody of the prison officers and taken from the courtroom to the holding cells underneath. In those cells are people facing much more serious charges. The officers will usually try to keep you separate from them — but now, you’re all the same in the eyes of the system. Prisoners.

The journey to the prison is in a van. This is not a journey you ever want to take. But first come the handcuffs.

They go on everyone — no exceptions. People have tried to escape before, and they won’t take that chance with you.

You’ve seen handcuffs on TV a hundred times. Always on the “bad guys.” But now, these heavy reinforced cuffs are closing around your wrists. You watch as your own hands disappear in front of you.

Now it’s real. Now it’s not a dream.

Now come the tears.

If It Happens, There’s Still a Safety Net

Even in the rare case where a first-time offender is given a prison sentence, you can appeal immediately after sentencing.

If granted — and it almost always is for first-time drink driving cases — you will be released the same day while you wait for your appeal to be heard.

Appeals are in the Circuit Court in front of a different judge.

"You’ve seen handcuffs on TV a hundred times.

Always on the “bad guys.”

But now, these heavy reinforced cuffs are closing around your wrists.

You watch as your own hands disappear in front of you.

Now it’s real. Now it’s not a dream.

Now come the tears"

Why the System Works This Way

The justice system isn’t designed to terrify first-time offenders into jail. It’s built to balance punishment with fairness.

And fairness isn’t a fixed formula, it changes with the facts of each case.

The safeguards that protect you are the same safeguards that protect everyone.

The law gives judges the power to jail people for drink driving. It also gives them the duty to ask:

Is this proportionate? Is this fair?

If the answer is no, prison should never be the outcome.

The Bottom Line

For a first offence, jail is possible but highly unlikely.

For repeat offences, the risk climbs sharply.

In either case, the decision is shaped by legal safeguards, and appeal courts exist to correct sentences that aren’t fair.

So while the fear is real, the reality is that most first-time drink driving cases end with a fine and a disqualification, not a prison cell.

And that judge above that we spoke about?

He was the exception.

99% of judges are not like that.

They're fair and enlightened.

They don't believe that jail is the answer to all problems.

That's not to say they won't jail people.

They will.

Just not for first-time drink driving offenders.