A Circuit Court judge warned yesterday that unless Galway Courthouse was cleaned immediately, both inside and out, and staff were appointed to carry out this work, he would refuse to sit in the court.
Judge Harvey Kenny was clearly annoyed as he walked around the environs of the courthouse, pointing at litter on the steps leading to the building and at weeds growing out of storm gutters and along pathways. The wheelchair ramp, covered in newspapers and other litter, was clearly a liability, he said.
Speaking from the bench afterwards, Judge Kenny said: "The state of the building is a sad indictment of the justice system. There is a general lack of cleanliness around the courthouse, both inside and out. If you walk outside now you will find numerous cigarette butts on the steps, which should have been put into bins. There is a veritable rainforest growing up through the shores and the steps leading to the cells are strewn with newspapers and grime. A prison officer could slip and a prisoner might escape."
Meanwhile, the Galway County Bar Association has issued legal proceedings against the Minister for Justice over the future of the 19th-century courthouse.
The Co Galway Solicitors' Bar Association has also served notice on the Courts Service over the building. Mr J.J. Mannion, a Clifden solicitor, told The Irish Times yesterday that nothing had been done with the courthouse since it was built in 1830, and it was not seen as a priority within the Department of Justice.
The Co Galway solicitors state in their proceedings that they want plans for the courthouse to involve retention of the existing internal court furniture and timber superstructure. They state that the defendants, including the Minister for Justice, have "failed and neglected to provide, manage or maintain the courthouse in Clifden, or provide facilities for users of the courts, as envisaged in the Courts Services Act, 1998."
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that the matter was an issue for the Courts Services. However, the Courts Service was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Judge Kenny said that he was not levelling any blame on staff who worked in the courthouse, but he pointed out that nobody had been appointed as a replacement while the caretaker was on two weeks' holiday. "The work is not being done and staff are not being assigned to do it. Nobody is looking after the courthouse for these two weeks. The jury in one trial was locked out yesterday because there was nobody there to let them in the back door, which I suggest juries use for obvious reasons."