A dairy farmer with “over 400 cows” in Roscommon who has been accused of animal neglect by the Department of Agriculture has been jailed pending trial after he was found to have breached bail conditions he had been under since October 2025.
Mr Seán Coughlan of Cum, Laherdane, Ballina, Co Mayo, was taken into custody at Roscommon Circuit Court on Thursday after it was proven that he did not abide by the terms of his bail and that he had not provided a “lawful or reasonably justifiable” excuse for doing so.
The Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) had proposed an amended set of bail conditions that would have allowed Mr Coughlan an opportunity to remain free until his trial date this summer, if both he and the court agreed to them.
However, Mr Coughlan declined to agree to these revised bail conditions, which included not selling meat or milk from untagged animals and to commission weekly expert reports on the health of his herd.
Judge Kenneth Connolly told the court that under normal circumstances, when the accused is alleged to have breached bail, they would either deny the allegation or attempt to explain any reason for the breach.
Thursday’s hearing witnessed “no such engagement from Mr Coughlan”, the judge said, adding that “I fear to an extent that Mr Coughlan is not getting the point of this entire case”.
Mr Coughlan represented himself in court.
Cattle movement breaches
The “most important” alleged breaches of bail considered were those relating to unauthorised movements into and out of Mr Coughlan’s herd in Roscommon, the judge said.
A term of Mr Coughlan’s bail had been that he abide by all lawful written instructions provided to him by an officer acting on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
A letter dated 21 November 2025 had outlined a number of Department requests the farmer was to obey, ranging from getting BVD testing up to date to rectifying 263 discrepancies in the Department’s records of the cattle in his herd and those which emerged from a TB herd test.
Mr Coughlan was to get pre-authorisation for any cattle movements in or out of the herd under the terms of his bail, but it was heard that “substantial” movements had been made without this permission on 2 February 2026.
The court heard that 100 cattle entered the herd from another herd connected to Mr Coughlan in Mayo and that a further 86 cattle went from the Roscommon farm to the one in Mayo.
The accused did not dispute that these movements had occurred, despite the Department having him “directed to cease this practice immediately”.
Mr Coughlan’s position had been that the Department issued him with multiple herd numbers for farms in Roscommon and Mayo “unlawfully” and that he has been unable to get approval to move animals between these herds at his will.
The judge left aside Mr Coughlan’s failure to meet his 2025 BVD testing deadline in deciding to revoke his bail, as he had subsequently tested all animals required after the deadline had passed.
The prison service vehicle into which Mr Seán Coughlan was loaded on Thursday after the sitting of Roscommon Circuit Court.
No finding of fact was made on whether Mr Coughlan had increased staffing levels to the extent mandated by the Department, even though the court “could harbour a reasonable doubt” that he had done so, as the only “evidence” he had provided in this regard was a figure he said represented his staff’s wage bill written on a piece of paper.
The farmer had said that he had engaged a consultant to attempt to rectify the 263 discrepancies in his herd records and the Department’s, which the judge said amounted to an intervention only declared in the “dying moments” of a hearing which had spanned several days.
“Very good, officer. He can be taken into custody,” the judge ordered as the hearing drew to a close.
Draft bail conditions
Before the order to take Mr Coughlan into custody, the DPP had kicked off the hearing by proposing the set of amended bail terms that could spare Mr Coughlan from jail, should he undertake to follow them.
These conditions included Mr Coughlan appointing a suitably qualified farm manager to the Roscommon farm within 10 working days and for this person to remain employed for the duration of the proceedings.
He was also to engage a suitably qualified animal health expert to report weekly on the health and welfare of the animals on the Roscommon farm to senior Department vet Philip Breslin within 10 working days.
The amended terms proposed that milk or meat from untagged animals in the herd would not be placed on the market and that Mr Coughlan would not sell or move untagged or unregistered animals from the herd.
Mr Coughlan would also have to acknowledge that he was the keeper of the Roscommon herd number.
Mr Coughlan’s response
In responding to the proposed changes to bail, Mr Coughlan said that he had already engaged a “management consultant” to rectify administration issues on the farm that he claimed “that the minister has created, the people acting on behalf of the minister”.
Mr Coughlan also told the court that the “inadequacy of the minister’s labs” had caused “financial harm” to him and his farm.
The farmer said to the court to “please return my records, my company’s records” at which point the judge intervened to state that “you seem to be just making statements” when he had been asked what position he would take on the revised bail terms.
The judge then asked Mr Coughlan to hand in a copy of the issues he raised regarding the bail motion for the prosecution to examine.
While Mr Coughlan suggested that he would not accept these conditions when they were initially presented to the court, judge Connolly also claimed that the accused would “make no bones about” breaching these conditions, based on his previous experience in court with the case.
Read more
Judge warns dairy farmer he faces jail over breaking bail terms
Dairy farmer before courts for animal neglect accused of breaking bail terms
A dairy farmer with “over 400 cows” in Roscommon who has been accused of animal neglect by the Department of Agriculture has been jailed pending trial after he was found to have breached bail conditions he had been under since October 2025.
Mr Seán Coughlan of Cum, Laherdane, Ballina, Co Mayo, was taken into custody at Roscommon Circuit Court on Thursday after it was proven that he did not abide by the terms of his bail and that he had not provided a “lawful or reasonably justifiable” excuse for doing so.
The Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) had proposed an amended set of bail conditions that would have allowed Mr Coughlan an opportunity to remain free until his trial date this summer, if both he and the court agreed to them.
However, Mr Coughlan declined to agree to these revised bail conditions, which included not selling meat or milk from untagged animals and to commission weekly expert reports on the health of his herd.
Judge Kenneth Connolly told the court that under normal circumstances, when the accused is alleged to have breached bail, they would either deny the allegation or attempt to explain any reason for the breach.
Thursday’s hearing witnessed “no such engagement from Mr Coughlan”, the judge said, adding that “I fear to an extent that Mr Coughlan is not getting the point of this entire case”.
Mr Coughlan represented himself in court.
Cattle movement breaches
The “most important” alleged breaches of bail considered were those relating to unauthorised movements into and out of Mr Coughlan’s herd in Roscommon, the judge said.
A term of Mr Coughlan’s bail had been that he abide by all lawful written instructions provided to him by an officer acting on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
A letter dated 21 November 2025 had outlined a number of Department requests the farmer was to obey, ranging from getting BVD testing up to date to rectifying 263 discrepancies in the Department’s records of the cattle in his herd and those which emerged from a TB herd test.
Mr Coughlan was to get pre-authorisation for any cattle movements in or out of the herd under the terms of his bail, but it was heard that “substantial” movements had been made without this permission on 2 February 2026.
The court heard that 100 cattle entered the herd from another herd connected to Mr Coughlan in Mayo and that a further 86 cattle went from the Roscommon farm to the one in Mayo.
The accused did not dispute that these movements had occurred, despite the Department having him “directed to cease this practice immediately”.
Mr Coughlan’s position had been that the Department issued him with multiple herd numbers for farms in Roscommon and Mayo “unlawfully” and that he has been unable to get approval to move animals between these herds at his will.
The judge left aside Mr Coughlan’s failure to meet his 2025 BVD testing deadline in deciding to revoke his bail, as he had subsequently tested all animals required after the deadline had passed.
The prison service vehicle into which Mr Seán Coughlan was loaded on Thursday after the sitting of Roscommon Circuit Court.
No finding of fact was made on whether Mr Coughlan had increased staffing levels to the extent mandated by the Department, even though the court “could harbour a reasonable doubt” that he had done so, as the only “evidence” he had provided in this regard was a figure he said represented his staff’s wage bill written on a piece of paper.
The farmer had said that he had engaged a consultant to attempt to rectify the 263 discrepancies in his herd records and the Department’s, which the judge said amounted to an intervention only declared in the “dying moments” of a hearing which had spanned several days.
“Very good, officer. He can be taken into custody,” the judge ordered as the hearing drew to a close.
Draft bail conditions
Before the order to take Mr Coughlan into custody, the DPP had kicked off the hearing by proposing the set of amended bail terms that could spare Mr Coughlan from jail, should he undertake to follow them.
These conditions included Mr Coughlan appointing a suitably qualified farm manager to the Roscommon farm within 10 working days and for this person to remain employed for the duration of the proceedings.
He was also to engage a suitably qualified animal health expert to report weekly on the health and welfare of the animals on the Roscommon farm to senior Department vet Philip Breslin within 10 working days.
The amended terms proposed that milk or meat from untagged animals in the herd would not be placed on the market and that Mr Coughlan would not sell or move untagged or unregistered animals from the herd.
Mr Coughlan would also have to acknowledge that he was the keeper of the Roscommon herd number.
Mr Coughlan’s response
In responding to the proposed changes to bail, Mr Coughlan said that he had already engaged a “management consultant” to rectify administration issues on the farm that he claimed “that the minister has created, the people acting on behalf of the minister”.
Mr Coughlan also told the court that the “inadequacy of the minister’s labs” had caused “financial harm” to him and his farm.
The farmer said to the court to “please return my records, my company’s records” at which point the judge intervened to state that “you seem to be just making statements” when he had been asked what position he would take on the revised bail terms.
The judge then asked Mr Coughlan to hand in a copy of the issues he raised regarding the bail motion for the prosecution to examine.
While Mr Coughlan suggested that he would not accept these conditions when they were initially presented to the court, judge Connolly also claimed that the accused would “make no bones about” breaching these conditions, based on his previous experience in court with the case.
Read more
Judge warns dairy farmer he faces jail over breaking bail terms
Dairy farmer before courts for animal neglect accused of breaking bail terms
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