Millstreet court service set to move to Macroom
Judge James McNulty told Millstreet District Court on Thursday that the Carnegie Hall building, where the local district court sits, will be renovated by Cork County Council and the court will be heard in Macroom in the interim.
However, Cork County Council, which owns Carnegie Hall, has said that the court sittings in Millstreet are ?now at an end.?
In May, doubt hung over the sittings in Millstreet as the court services did not envisage sittings continuing in the town, while a statement issued in May, stated that the future of the court has ?not been decided on yet and won?t be until 2009.? This was further reiterated by Gerry Curran of the Court Services this week, who said: ?Millstreet District Court is being transferred temporarily while work is being undertaken on the premises in which it currently sits. This move is temporary.?
Tom Stritch of the council?s Northern Division told The Corkman: ?The Court services were invited to take part in the renovation plan last year but they said no. The court services were not willing to take part and that is their own choice. But as far as we are now concerned the sittings in Millstreet are at an end. The existing court room in Millstreet will be used for council staff as we need the space.?
Mr Curran said he had no knowledge, nor had the court services been informed by the council, that they cannot move back to Millstreet.If that is the case then we will be seeking alternative accommodation in Millstreet for court sittings to take place. Our plans are to move back. We are surprised that the council are now saying it is not available to us. We have not been told of this,? he said on Wednesday morning.
When Mr Curran was asked if the sittings from Kanturk District Court would move into Mallow he said: ?We have no plans at all to move Kanturk in the immediate future.? He said the future of these venues will be considered in their Phase Three plan of their District court reorganisation which is due to begin next year.
A letter from the courts service concerning Millstreet District Court was sent to CCC and discussed at a council meeting in May. In the letter it was stated that the courts service indicated in August 2007 that it was not in a position to commit to the provision of funding to upgrading Millstreet court ?as it did not anticipate court sittings continuing in the town in the medium to long term given the volume of court businesses there.?
It stated: ?The court services is giving priority attention to those venues with a greater number of court sittings and taking into account issues such as case-load, population and the National Spatial Strategy. On this basis, priority was given to Macroom where capital works will be undertaken shortly to refurbish and improve the facilities at the existing courthouse.?
Cork County Council engineer Pat O?Sullivan, who is based in Millstreet, told The Corkman that the project has gone to tender and it is up to management to decide on who will attain the work.
He said the roof of the building needs attention and the existing courtroom will be used by council staff. Other works include the installation of a lift. ?The building needs to be remodelled to make more room. Whenever the tenders come back with their estimates, then management will meet and decide on who gets the project,? he said.
Fine Gael Councillor Noel Buckley said: ?Amalgamation certainly seems to be the way to go now and it?s a real pity as towns are losing their vibrancy. The court has been in Millstreet for 100 years and towns across Duhallow are seeing a closure of shops, post offices and marts which means towns are losing their profiles. Millstreet?s loss certainly now seems to be Macroom?s gain.?
