Judge says Offaly needs another courthouse

A District Court Judge this week said Offaly needs another courthouse because the list is too big for just Tullamore Courthouse alone.

Judge Alan Mitchell commented that it's regrettable that Tullamore District Court has been allowed to become so big in terms of its list being so long.

“Why have things been allowed to get to this state is the million dollar question,” he remarked.

Referring to a road traffic offence in Moneygall which came before the court earlier on he said, “it's amazing there's no courthouse in Birr. Court sittings in Birr would be much more appropriate for things happening in places like Moneygall. Edenderry is included in Tullamore Court as well. It is such a big area. Has the courthouse in Birr been sold off?”

Sgt James O'Sullivan said it hasn't and it's planned to turn it into a community hub.

Birr District Court stopped sitting in 2013 and all its cases were transferred to Tullamore. The closure was widely criticised at the time. Birr Circuit Court also came to an end and was transferred to Tullamore.

“The distance from Moneygall to Tullamore is twice the distance from Moneygall to Birr,” commented the Judge. “It would make far more sense to have an operating courthouse in Birr, a second District Court in the county.”

Over the last couple of decades many courthouses have been closed and centralised to larger urban areas, often county towns.

A local solicitor memorably claimed in 2013 in response to the closure of the court sittings that Birr was being “uniquely damaged.”