Council Vows To Fight To Keep Courts Services In Town Centre

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Tralee Courthouse.

THE Mayor of Tralee called on his fellow councillors and council management to do all they can to keep the court sittings at Tralee Courthouse.

The Courts Service proposes to construct a new courthouse on an alternative site to the building on Ashe Street and a State-owned property at Ballymullen is currently being looked at.

“The Courthouse is a fabulous facility,” said Mayor Terry O’Brien (Lab) at the Tralee Municipal District meeting on Tuesday.  “This is from someone who has brought forward motions about wheelchair access. This can be remedied. It would be very sad to see the courts services leave the town centre,” he said, calling on all councillors to resist the move.

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Sinn Féin Cllr Pa Daly said there were ample lands to develop the site on Ashe Street and there is no need to move the courts to a new location. He said it was an “absolute no-brainer” that the services should stay and to leave the building would be a travesty. 2

Kerry County Council’s Director of Services, Michael Scannell, said discussions took place during the past week and the Courts Services regional officer was down from Cork about the issue.

“It’s important that momentum gathers around this and we show a united front as a town,” said Mr Scannell.

Members of the Kerry Law Society met with President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke last week where they put forward alternatives to moving the services.

These included utilising a piece of land owned by An Post at the rear of the Courthouse and the Kerry Protestant Hall building across the road.