Sum allocated to repair Buncrana courthouse
Donegal solicitor Ciaran F MacLochlainn has said he is pleased that the Office of Public Works has allocated €100,000 to carry out works on Buncrana courthouse.
This news follows a campaign by local court users for the restoration and repair of courthouses in the county.
Painted
The solicitor said that he understood that plaster would be removed from both outside and inside courthouse walls and the entire building would be painted.
“Our group is still pressing the Department of Justice to modernise the building by installing video-link facilities, cameras, and screens to enable the court to deal with prisoners who are in custody in the various prisons throughout the country, without having to bring them all up to Buncrana for short remands and dealings,” he said.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan recently committed to getting the Donegal town courthouse up and running again quickly, following interior damage last September, when the porch ceiling partially collapsed.
“The main focus of our campaign at present is to get Carndonagh District Court up and running again,” Ciaran F MacLochlainn explained.
That courthouse was closed during the pandemic and has not re-opened since that time, he added.
Deteriorate
The building has been allowed to deteriorate, and no maintenance has been carried out over the last six years or more.
“The courthouse in Carndonagh is a listed building, and the local authority is allowing the building to deteriorate,” the solicitor explained.
The poor state of the building was also discussed at a meeting of the Carndonagh Tidy Towns group, and the problems it was causing in relation to the competition for the tidiest town.
“The County Donegal Courthouses Restoration and Maintenance group hope to work with the Carndonagh Tidy Towns group, other local groups and local politicians in trying to get a commitment from the minister to carry out the repairs and maintenance that are required for the courthouse in Carndonagh,” the solicitor said.