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1st July 2014 • Volume 21, Issue 22 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie
Court Closures Condemned The decision to close down the District Courts in Swords and Balbriggan, is one that is being widely criticised from all sides in the county. It is one that is likely to have severe consequences, not only for court users, but the wider local economy also. The rationale given is to maintain the efficient administration of justice, without impacting on access to justice. The Dublin Solicitors Bar Association believes that neither aim will be achieved by the closure of the suburban District Courts. On a very basic level, the proposed closure of the suburban Courts Laura Shannon does not make economic sense. The County Leader asked two leading solicitors from the affected areas, about how they saw the consequences of the impending closures, which are due to take effect in January next. Laura Shannon is a partner in Vincent Shannon Solicitors in Swords, and Donogh McGowan, a leading Balbriggan solicitor, are both members of the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association (DSBA). They were both scathing in their criticism of the development, and the knock-on effect it will have on the local community. Shannon said, “This makes a huge difference for people needing to access family law. This will be moved from Swords to Dolphin House in the city centre, which is a huge inconvenience. My experience is that there are five courts here, with two for childcare, and the others dealing with cases similar to Swords, like guardianship, access, maintenance, barring orders. So, each of these courts will have 16 to 18 cases listed at 10.30am every day. If they move Swords in there, it is likely that people will have to make the trip into town, which will take about 90 minutes. This means people having to organise childcare as well as waiting for hours in Dolphin House, where their case may be adjourned at the end of the day, necessitating a return another day,” she said. “The Courts Service are saying that the move is to improve facilities. There are no consultation
rooms in Swords, but in Dolphin House there are four consultation rooms, but there may well be up to 120 people waiting in the main room. Another problem is that a case involving a child, which is always very important, may be adjourned for another day, or for a report. When you return, a different judge may be sitting, so it has to go back for the attention of the original judge. The situation in Swords and Balbriggan, is that the same judge is there nearly all of the time and this can make life a lot easier, by being able to process applications more efficiently,” she said. McGowan was in agreement and he spoke about the difficulties for people from Balbriggan in particular, to access court services. He said, “The closures do not achieve a financial benefit for the state and they will, we believe result in increased expenditure for a poorer service, when you consider the increased costs for the Gardai, loss of Garda time and the increased costs and inconvenience for court users.” He continued, “In addition, the closures will reduce access to justice for the users of the District Court system, many of whom are the most vulnerable in society, such as Donagh McGowan single mothers seeking maintenance for their children, who will have to attend the court office in the city centre to apply for legal aid. They then have to appear in court on at least one more occasion. Continued on page 17
Pictured are Junior Infants of Lusk National School, Finn Moore and Megan Daly, as they demonstrate their skills on one of the new laptops at the school to Junior Minister for Education, Ciaran Cannon. See story on page 3
Huge Balbriggan Drainage Project Underway Irish Water recently signed a contract with Jons Civil Engineering, to construct the new pumping station at the Dublin Road Roundabout in B a l b r i g g a n . Construction work on the new pumping station commenced last week, and is set to continue for approximately 14 months. The new pumping station will transport effluent from Balbriggan and Skerries, to be treated
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By Patrick Finnegan in the new plant located at Barnageeragh, and is set to cause major traffic restriction for the duration. A meeting was held on Wednesday 25th June last in Balbriggan Town Hall by affected parties, to discuss a traffic management plan, for the duration of the construction works. Other issues were discussed with local people, whose
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businesses will be severely impacted. The meeting was attended by County Council officials and the contractor, and was chaired by local councillor, Tony Murphy. Frank exchanges were the order of the day, as the contractor and engineers from the Council, were quizzed about how best this huge, but necessary project could be delivered, with the least impact on business in Balbriggan. Many business people feared that the restrictions will mean that, in some cases, there is a real possibility that business in the town will be lost forever, as shoppers may abandon the town in search of shopping in other locations. Balbriggan Chamber of Commerce member, Kevin Tolan spoke to
the County Leader about the concerns for local business. He said, “The reality is that there is no traffic plan in place, and there appears to be a ‘suck it and see’ attitude to the problem. We are anxious to make sure that any plan is ‘town friendly’ as opposed to ‘contractor friendly’. The workers are now at the Church roundabout and everyone is wondering what exactly is going on. Hopefully this project can be completed as soon as possible. The town needs breathing space, and this is going to choke it up. The business sector is concerned that this may turn out to be a disincentive for people to visit the town, with traffic lights and contra flows in operation.” Continued on page 16