FIANNA FÁIL LAUNCH COURTHOUSE PETITION Lights at sailing club to cost €6k
FIANNA Fáil have started a petition calling for refurbishment works to be carried out to Wicklow Courthouse so it can be reopened.
The court hasn’t held Circuit Court sittings since 2008 and District Court sittings since 2010 due to health and safety concerns and the building has remained vacant for the past seven years.
Deputies Pat Casey and Stephen Donnelly, along with Cllr Gail Dunne, have launched a petition to be presented to the Minister for Justice in August calling on him to honour the 2015 commitment that Wicklow Courthouse would be refurbished and put to work for the town.
Deputy Casey said that he had raised the issue of the courthouse on numerous occasions through Topical Issues and Parliamentary Questions in the Dail. ‘Minister Simon Harris made a firm commitment in 2015 that Wicklow Courthouse would be refurbished. We are calling on the people of Wicklow today to join us in making the Government honour this commitment,’ said Deputy Casey.
Recently, the Court Services indicated that it would take in the region of €10 million to refurbish the building. However, Wicklow hasn’t been included in the list of courthouses to face refurbishment under the Action Plan for Rural Development over the next 18 months.
‘There needs to be a long-term use for the courthouse,’ said Deputy Casey. ‘The Court Services need to make a decision.
‘Ideally it goes back to use as a courthouse, but if not it could be used as something else. It’s beside Wicklow Gaol and the Town Hall and is very much part of the historic quarter of the town.’
Cllr Gail Dunne has questioned the €10 million figure provided by the Court Services to carry out the necessary works to allow for the reopening of the courthouse.
‘The Court Services are paying huge rent up in Bray for court sittings that should be taking place in Wicklow,’ said Cllr Dunne.
‘Since the courthouse closed, that end of Wicklow town has been dying on its feet. We have bars and restaurants struggling here at the end of the town and a number of vacant units. We are the capital town of County Wicklow and should have our own courthouse.’
Cllr Dunne would also like to see the Wicklow Municipal District offices moving back to the town hall from the Wicklow County Council offices.
‘Anything that would bring a bit of life back to Market Square would be welcome. All the other districts operate out of a town hall, but we lose out because we are located so close to the County buildings.
A working courthouse, functioning town hall and an already thriving Wicklow Gaol would boost business around Market Square,’ said Cllr Dunne.
Deputy Donnelly said: ‘We currently have a situation where Wicklow Courthouse is one of only five courthouses in the country which is not scheduled to be refurbished. On top of this, we also have an overcrowded courthouse in Bray. This is simply not acceptable.
‘Both myself and Pat have raised this issue in the Daíl and Gail has raised it locally. Each time, we have all been told that there are currently no plans. The town is badly in need of the increased footfall that having the building up and running would bring.’
Members of the public can sign the petition by calling into Deputy Casey’s constituency office in Market Square or online at www.change.org/p/courtservices-of-ireland-wicklow-courthousemust-be-refurbushed. AIRTRICITY have provided a costing of €6,000 plus VAT for public lighting at Wicklow Sailing Club, despite councillors initially receiving an estimate of €2,000.
At their meeting on Monday last, member of Wicklow Municipal District heard that the nearest supply point is over 50 metres away and hard rock in the vicinity of the club also means the cost of the works has exceeded original estimates.
Airtricity has visited the area twice and maintain that it can’t be achieved at a lesser price.
‘That’s a dramatic increase,’ said Cathaoirleach, Cllr Shay Cullen.
‘It’s gone up from €2,000 to nearly €6,500.’
Cllr John Snell said he had visited the area the night before and felt there was sufficient lighting at the bottom of the steps and at the top end of the sailing club.
‘I support putting lighting down there but its disappointing to see it come in at three times what we were initially quoted.’
District Engineer, Paul Byrne, agreed to a request from Cllr Cullen to examine potential solar lighting options.