Fianna Fáil launches campaign to refurbish Wicklow Courthouse

Fianna Fáil has launched a major campaign in Wicklow today to put pressure on the Minister for Justice to honour Government commitments to refurbish Wicklow Courthouse.

Wicklow Courthouse has been closed since 2011 when all court services in the county were moved to Bray. It was closed on the basis of health and safety concerns, but since then the building has remained vacant.

Deputy Stephen Donnelly, Pat Casey TD and Cllr. Gail Dunne have launched a petition to be presented to the Minister in August calling on him to honour the 2015 commitment that Wicklow Courthouse would be refurbished and put to work for the town.

Speaking in Wicklow Town today, Deputy Casey commented, “I have raised this issue on numerous occasions through Topical Issues and Parliamentary Questions. 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.”

Deputy Donnelly commented, “We currently have a situation where Wicklow Courthouse is one of only 5 court houses 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.”

Cllr. Dunne commented, “When the courthouse closed in 2011, Market Square died in terms of customers. We have bars and restaurants struggling here at the end of the town and a number of vacant units. Refurbishing the Courthouse and looking at getting it back up and running needs to be a priority for the Court Services.”