A judge at the Central Criminal Court has ruled that a letter written to him by a jury member after a child sexual abuse trial could not be a reason for him to make further inquiries into the verdicts.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott rejected a number of applications from defence lawyers for a family of five adults who were convicted of a range of sexual offences against three children after a 10-week trial earlier this year.
It emerged after the trial that one juror had written to the judge after the trial.
The contents of the letter cannot be published.
Last week, one defence lawyer argued that the verdicts were possibly "tainted or unfair".
The judge was asked to set aside the verdicts and order an inquiry on the basis of the juror's letter.
In a ruling this morning, Mr Justice McDermott pointed to extensive case law governing the confidentiality of jury deliberations.
He said he was satisfied that the verdicts in the case were delivered subject to clear legal practice and procedures.
He said he was satisfied that the letter received cannot be the basis for an inquiry and does not contain any cogent allegation or evidence to suggest any impropriety.
Judge McDermott said he was satisfied that case law established that jury verdicts carry with them an assumption of impartiality and that had not been rebutted by the letter.
The judge also said he was satisfied that the Common Law rule he was applying was not incompatible with either the European Convention on Human Rights or the Constitution.
Any alleged irregularities in a trial fall to be addressed by the Court of Appeal, he said. He will proceed to sentence all five adults in January.
The three men and two women were found guilty of sexually abusing three children between 2014 and 2016.
They are the parents, aunt and uncles of the children and range in ages from 27 to 57.
The parents were also found guilty of wilfully neglecting five of their children while the father was found guilty of mistreating three of them by giving them medication.
All of the defendants had denied all of the charges against them.
Extensive reporting restrictions are in place to protect the welfare and identities of the children, who were taken into care in 2016.
The jury deliberated for almost 20 hours in total over a number of days, following the 10-week trial which was held in Croke Park between May and August this year.
Guilty verdicts were returned in 77 of 78 charges. Forty-two verdicts were unanimous, the remainder were majority verdicts.
The children's 56-year-old father was convicted on 31 counts including the rape and sexual assault of three of his children and of allowing them to be sexually assaulted by others.
He was also convicted of sexual exploitation.
He was also convicted of wilful neglect of five of his children.
The 34-year-old mother was found guilty on 25 charges including sexual assault and with allowing three children to engage in sexual activity with others.
She was also convicted of sexual exploitation of her eldest son.
She was also convicted of wilful neglect.
The children's 49-year-old uncle was found guilty on 10 charges including raping the young girl and sexually assaulting her two brothers.
He was also convicted of sexual exploitation.
His wife, their 35-year-old aunt, was found guilty on three charges of sexually assaulting the girl and her younger brother.
The children's 27-year-old uncle was convicted on nine charges including the rape and sexual exploitation of his niece and nephew.
He was acquitted on one charge of sexual assault.
All five were remanded in custody.
A sentencing hearing will take place on 10 January.
The prosecution said it will be submitting victim impact statements from the foster parents on behalf of the children.
