Scheme to combat ‘petrol stretching’ welcomed

Mulroy wants fair trial for Westport Courthouse


Neill O’Neill

IT is almost two years since Westport Courthouse was shut temporarily for health and safety reasons by The Courts Service. Now, 21 months after the closure, which was supposed to last only five months, Westport County Councillor Brendan Mulroy is starting a campaign to have court sittings return to the heart of the Westport District once again.
A spokesperson for the Court’s Service told The Mayo News in May 2013 that owing to ‘serious health and safety risks posing an immediate danger to judges, staff, the public and others using the building’, all scheduled hearings for the Westport Court District, in both the circuit and district courts, were being transferred to Castlebar Courthouse. While the court district of Westport has remained in place, no court sittings have taken place in the town since.
A problem with the roof was the reason cited: “Following a report from the Office of Public Works (OPW) regarding the condition of Westport Courthouse, and in particular the condition of the ceiling in the courtroom, The Courts Service, as owners of the building, has no option but to temporarily close the building on health and safety grounds, pending an overall assessment of the courthouse to determine the full extent of the work required to address the issues,” they informed this newspaper.
In January 2014, when the court house had not reopened, an answer to a question from The Mayo News revealed that the the Board of the Courts Services had not considered the matter and that the estimated €1 million cost of the repairs was likely to prove prohibitive.
Now Cllr Mulroy is saying that keeping the courthouse closed is costing jobs and money to Westport’s economy.
He stated his belief that the cost of the repairs is very high, and that the loss of the court house is having an impact on local people, in terms of business coming into town, but also is a major inconvenience for those who need to attend at court.
As such, he is intending to call a public meeting shortly to explore options in relation to his campaign, and is hopeful that funding can be found within the OPW that will bail Westport courthouse out, and see justice once again being administered in the heart of the district.