Solicitors come together in desperate bid to save historic Carndonagh Courthouse

The growing campaign to save Carndonagh Courthouse has taken another step forward, with solicitors coming together in a bid to resurrect court sittings in the town.

A crunch meeting will take place at Carn Courthouse on Wednesday, December 17 at 2pm, with legal practitioners, politicians, and members of the local business community urged to attend.

Wednesday’s meeting will represent the first time that the old building has been opened in almost seven years, and it’s understood that those attending will wear hard hats.

Veteran Buncrana solicitor Ciaran MacLochlainn is spearheading the meeting and the campaign to bring Carn Court back, and he says it’s vital that as many people as possible show up to support the cause.

“I’ve just found out that the building has been condemned, but who allowed it to get into this condition? Was it the Department of Justice or some other branch of the government that allowed it to fall into a state of disrepair?” he asked.

“I have invited all the Inishowen solicitors to the meeting, as well as solicitors from Donegal Town, which had its courthouse closed recently too. And I’ve asked all the local politicians and some of the business people in Carndonagh.”

Nothing has been done to advance any refurbishment of Carndonagh Courthouse, which was ‘temporarily closed’ in March 2019, and Mr MacLochlainn fears the authorities are also allowing Buncrana Courthouse to become rundown, as part of a wider plan to move court sittings out of Inishowen altogether.

“The plaster’s coming off the walls, and you can see the dampness. There’s no upkeep nor maintenance being done in Buncrana either: Why not?”

“They’re trying to centralise all court sittings for Inishowen to Letterkenny, a town which is difficult to get to and choked with traffic already.”

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Mr MacLochlainn says people are entitled to have justice served locally, while court days provide an important boost for the local economy.

“Local people who are brought before the court can come to the court and bring their family members with them. They can get there quite easily if the sittings are held locally.”

“It’s also very good for business, with up to 50 or 60 people involved in a typical court sitting. You have judges, solicitors, clerks, guards, and the press all going for their coffees and lunches and spending money in the town.”

“When I started the job as State Solicitor in 1983, there were sixteen courts in Donegal, including one in Moville, which used to sit in St Eugene’s Hall. We’re now down to about four or five courts across the county.”

He added: “We’re also down to just one Circuit Court a year in Buncrana, when we used to have three sittings.”

“When Judge O’Hagan was here, he used to have special sittings in Buncrana for two weeks, and for the full fortnight, you would have the judge, his driver, twenty barristers, solicitors and clients from all over the county coming to Buncrana.”