Hemp Federation Ireland statement on coverage of proceedings involving member Brendan O’Mara
10 September 2026
Hemp Federation Ireland notes reporting of District Court proceedings involving our member Brendan O’Mara, including an article by Gordon Deegan in The Journal.
The public record is limited and should be stated accurately. Gardaí seized material at Mr O’Mara’s home in May 2025. He faces a charge of possession of cannabis for sale or supply contrary to Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, which uses a statutory value threshold of €13,000 or more. He has pleaded not guilty. The District Court has adjourned the prosecution while the High Court considers whether hemp at or below 0.3% THC can lawfully be treated as a Schedule 1 controlled drug, whether it is an agricultural good, and whether the Irish framework is compatible with EU law.
HFI’s position is not a verdict on the criminal case. Independent analysis of THC content, variety, origin and intended use is a matter for the courts and the laboratories. Our concern is the public framing. The material is described in court as low-THC hemp. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, industrial hemp grown from EU catalogue varieties within the EU THC limit is an agricultural crop. The European Commission has stated that hemp complying with CAP rules is not used to produce narcotic drugs. Irish practice after 2018 has treated almost the whole plant as a controlled drug except mature stalk, fibre and seed after separation. That is a far narrower carve-out than the EU agricultural regime.
Applying illicit-cannabis street prices to a low-THC agricultural consignment assumes the legal conclusion now before the High Court. If the material is hemp within EU parameters, a multi-million-euro “drugs” valuation is not a market description. It is a charging construct.
HFI represents growers, processors and retailers across the island. Members include operators who cultivated hemp under official controls for decades. A founding member can reasonably state that the product in issue was hemp. That is also the case put on the court record by Mr O’Mara’s solicitor: low-THC hemp treated as an agricultural good on the Continent.
HFI was not approached by The Journal, nor, on the available record, by other outlets that repeated the same seizure framing. A report about whether a CAP crop is a controlled drug should speak to the national industry body and to the difference between dry-weight THC in an EU variety and the potency of illicit flower.
Separately, HFI members are before the courts on Ireland’s failure to notify, under Directive (EU) 2015/1535, measures that have the effect of prohibiting a strategic EU agricultural crop. Settled CJEU case law provides that failure to notify a technical regulation can render the measure unenforceable against individuals. That judicial review is distinct from, but legally adjacent to, the High Court challenge on Schedule 1.
We will continue to insist on three points:
Hemp within EU parameters is an agricultural product.
Street-value headlines should not decide that classification in advance of the courts.
Licensed growers, processors or consumers should not be introduced to the public as participants in a drugs seizure while the law remains in dispute.
Mr O’Mara is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
For further information:
Kate Mullaney, Chairwoman & Director
kate@hempfederationireland.org
www.hempfederationireland.org
