All of the Swinford solicitors and their staff are challenging the evaluation criteria set out by the Courts Service in an effort to have at least one court in operation for east Mayo. At present, based on the flawed criteria and a lack of meaningful engagement with the local community, the closure is likely. It also comes at a time when Swinford Garda Station has been downgraded and the closure of the local Teagasc office is imminent.
Courts have been held in the Swinford Courthouse for more than 150 years. Since the foundation of the State in Ireland in 1922 the district court, circuit court and coroner’s court have sat in the said courthouse.
The right of the people to have justice administered locally is enshrined in the Constitution and the general public have an expectation to have the services of the court in the local area, according to Swinford solicitor Michael Smyth.
The Court Service has carried out a cull of a number of district courts in County Mayo over the past 10 years, more recently closing the venues in Claremorris, Ballinrobe, and Kiltimagh. Previous courts venues in Kilkelly, Charlestown, Foxford, Crossmolina, Killala, and Ballycastle have also been terminated.
If the courts of Swinford and Ballyhaunis were to close there would be no court sitting from Ballinrobe in the south to Ballina in the north. East Mayo, with a population of more than 30,000 people, will not have a centre for the administration of justice and it appears all the resources will be ring fenced for Castlebar, Ballina, and Westport.
While all public services are being reviewed in the current economic climate it would be a retrograde and particularly unfair to the people of east Mayo if a further service, which has a very limited economic cost to the State and Court Service, were to be terminated.
In contrast the value of the court to the community in terms of the contribution it makes to the social and economic development of rural towns should not be underestimated. Court sittings bring significant business to the towns on the day it sits.
Many of the district court sittings have been moved to Castlebar, which is already seeing delays and overcrowding. The Courthouse in Castlebar is a state of the art facility, however when it was developed it was not envisaged that it would have to facilitate so many court dates, in particular the lack of adequate parking in the area and the fact that most parking is metered. Swinford Courthouse has a very large free car park across the road and can facilitate court dates for Ballyhaunis or Kiltimagh.
The court in Charlestown was moved to Tubbercurry with the result that an incident that occurs less than two kilometres from Swinford must be dealt with at the Sligo venue and may further end up on appeal in Sligo town.
The Courts Service may see some minimal reduction in costs, however the burden of the delays and travel costs will be borne by the consumer and the Department of Justice, while local businesses will take another body blow.
