Anna-Marie Flynn
A MAMMOTH sitting of Ballina District Court saw hundreds cram into the town’s courthouse last week in a record-breaking court session.
During the sitting, with a listing of 311 cases, there was little more than standing in room in the courthouse, with scores of defendants forced to stand outside.
While Ballina is accepted as the busiest court in Mayo, the district judge noted that the courts service plans to spend ‘hundreds of thousands of euro doing up a courtroom in Swinford’ where, she added, ‘there are about seven cases in the list’.
Ballina-based solicitor, Mr John Gordon, told The Mayo News that last week’s sitting is just one in a long line of court days which have seen the courtroom ‘bursting at the seams’. He described the conditions as ‘awful’. “The courthouse is totally unable to cope with the case load it has to deal with. The design alone is extraordinarily bad and the public space is far too small for all the people who attend the court there on a regular basis.”
Asked did he consider the conditions posed a health and safety problem, he responded: “Certainly, there is an issue there,” and said court rises at 4pm for health and safety reasons as it is.
He said the real implications of the ‘poor set-up’ relate to defendants.
“I don’t know how many clients I have had bench warrants issued for when they were actually outside the courthouse. There is so little space in the actual room that bench warrants are issued, or the court is held up by just looking for people who are forced to stand outside. The warrants then have to be cancelled, causing even more confusion and more work,” he said.
Mr Gordon paid tribute to Judge Mary Devins and the court clerks who he said are ‘extremely efficient’ . “The judge and court office staff work to the best of their ability given the awful conditions. The bottom line is the place needs a total refurbishment,” he said.
While there are no immediate plans for a revamp, under a new Courts Service reorganisation programme, the sittings of Ballina District Court, will increase to four per month from January 2009.
