This article is from page 49 of the 2008-11-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 49 JPG
The Courts Service has released documents that show how the Su- perintendent for the Killaloe area expressed considerable opposition to the move. Supt Tony Kennelly’s view prevailed and the Tulla sittings will now be held in Killaloe.
The Courts Service board recently ratified the re-organisation of the Clare Courts Service, which involves the the abolition of a number of sit- tings in the county.
The moves will see sittings taking place in three venues from the New
Year: Ennis, Kilrush and Killaloe. When additional courthouses are provided in Ennistymon and Shan- non, the number of venues will in- crease to five.
The plan — which will be effective from January | — will see Kilkee sittings take place in Kilrush and Lisdoonvarna and Miltown Malbay being relocated to Ennistymon. The re-organisation will also see Scariff sittings being relocated to Killaloe.
Ennistymon sittings are currently being held at Kilrush pending the provision of a new courthouse in the north Clare town.
A spokesman for the Courts Serv- ice said that it may be one more year before courts are held once more in Ennistymon. Negotiations are ongo- ing in relation to a proposed site in the north Clare town.
The spokesman said that next on the priority is a new courthouse for Killaloe.
An internal Courts Service memo stated that the former courthouse building in Killaloe was being used by the county council “as a store for everything from straw to wheelbar- rows. The courthouse is in a ter- ribe state. However, there is at least room there to constitute a proper court venue, preferable with a local partnership input to best utilise this building”.
A spokesman for the Courts Serv- ice said that it’s hoped that the court- house will be shared with the Family Support Centre in Killaloe and that the two would share maintenance costs.
The spokesman couldn’t put a time- frame in relation to the provision of a new courthouse in Killaloe or Shan- non. The Shannon sittings are cur- rently held in Ennis.
An internal memo anticipated that there would be resistance to the move from Kilkee to Kilrush. The memo stated that “conditions are very poor at Kilkee and Kilrush has good fa- cilities eight miles away”.
However, no opposition to the Kil- kee move materialised.