The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Kelleher, has spoken of his anger at the Government's decision to cancel funding for refurbishment of a courthouse which has been boarded up for the past three years.
Cllr Kelleher has described the courthouse in Washington Street, which is surrounded by hoardings and graffiti, as an "eyesore". He fears that work on it will not be completed by 2005, when Cork will have its turn as European City of Culture. "My major concern is that thousands of tourists are expected in this city in the summer of 2005. The boarded-up courthouse makes Washington Street look bad. It is crazy in this day and age to have a building of its quality boarded up for so many years," he said.
Government funding for the refurbishment was cancelled last month as part of a series of cutbacks. A spokesman for the Courts Service has said that the project is awaiting approval from the Department of Finance for private funding. A private contractor is Cork is believed to be willing to provide the money to complete the €25 million project.
The exterior of the building was renovated in 1999, and work on refurbishing the interior was scheduled to begin shortly afterwards. However, this was delayed when the plans had to be revised following consultation with local interest groups.
The president of the Southern Law Society, Mr Patrick Dorgan, has protested at the use of a restored warehouse on Camden Quay for hearing all Circuit Court cases in Cork city. He said that cases were being heard in cramped conditions, and barristers had to hold discussions with their clients in a hallway because the building lacked rooms for consultation.
The temporary courthouse was recently referred to in the Law Society Gazette as Cork's "Black Hole of Calcutta".