Kerry court service to move unless decision made on new site

The Kerry Law Society said it now accepted the view of the courts service that the existing courthouse in Tralee (pictured) cannot be refurbished as a modern court complex, and a move to the greenfield Island of Geese site on the western side of Tralee is necessary. File picture: Dan Linehan

The Courts Service will not continue to preside over outdated services in Tralee and is set to transfer circuit, family and other matters altogether from Kerry. That is unless a decision can be made on moving to a new site, it has told The Kerry Law Society.

The Kerry Law Society said it now accepted the view of the courts service that the existing courthouse in Tralee cannot be refurbished as a modern court complex, and a move to the greenfield Island of Geese site on the western side of Tralee is necessary.

Until now the Kerry Law Society has been “venue neutral” amid a row over moving from the existing site, it said.

However Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly, who has long called for the refurbishment of the existing courthouse, said the Courts Service was engaged in “a game of bluff” and the existing 19th-century historic building could be refurbished.

He had also suggested the Protestant Hall opposite the building be purchased to provide extra courtrooms and administrative and press rooms. The Courts Service has allowed the courthouse in Tralee to fall into a state of disrepair, he claimed.

A heritage report was being put before the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Courts Service is advocating the retention of the building as a courthouse, the TD said.

“No one has produced a reasonable plan for the courthouse if it is abandoned,” Mr Daly said.

We will be left with a gaping hole in the centre of Tralee, against all current policies for urban centres.

In addition, it will severely restrict what can be carried out in the greenfield Island of Geese site. Tralee is one of the few county towns not to have a new modern court complex.

The plans favoured by the Courts Service are for a transfer to the Island of Geese site, which is owned by Kerry County Council. The complex for which they have been shown plans is similar to that built in Letterkenny. 

This would would facilitate the full range of services including probate, family, district, circuit, civil and criminal sittings of the Central Criminal Court as well as administrative offices, solicitor Canice Walsh, said.

Mr Walsh, along with State solicitor Diane Reidy and Tralee solicitor Barbara Liston, is a member of a new subcommittee of solicitors dedicated to finally achieving a new complex to replace what he describes as “the shameful and outdated” facilities in Tralee.

The run-down premises on Ashe Street has just two court rooms and few facilities and the building's offices have had to be abandoned.

Four years ago, the council approached the Courts Service and offered to sell the site in the Island of Geese site for a new courts complex, it emerged recently.

The sale could be completed by October if the council votes in favour of the sale, the law society said.