Enniskillen courthouse
SOLCITORS in FERMANAGH are to meet at lunch time today (Wednesday) to explore their options in relation to the proposed closure of Enniskillen Court House.
Justice Minister David Ford has proposed that Enniskillen along with seven other court houses across the North close as a way save money in his department’s budget, cut by £75m. It is thought up to 20 people could lose their jobs if the proposals come to pass.
The proposed closure of Enniskillen Court House would mean Magistrates and Youth Court sittings would be transferred to Omagh with a draft schedule already drawn out. The department state there is sufficient capacity to facilitate any increase in demand for court, tribunal or inquest sittings. The closure of Enniskillen courthouse could according to the Department of Justice Consultation save £92,000 a year, but local solicitors remain unconvinced at the merits of the move.
Reggie Ferguson of Ferguson Solicitors, Enniskillen said they will do their ‘level best’ to retain the courthouse in Enniskillen.
“We will hopefully widen out the support to extend it to the general business community and to all our clients. This affects many more people than just the legal profession.”
Mr Ferguson said as far as he was concerned it was a ‘crazy proposal’ to close the courthouse in Enniskillen.
“I believe we have good grounds for a fight, which I hope ultimately we will win.”
He did state however, the nature of the process was concerning.
“The worrying thing is that looking at the consultation process on the Department of Justice website obviously a lot of work has gone into this. They have on the website proposed future court dates for Enniskillen to be held in Omagh.”
He continued: “They considered closing Downpatrick, but didn’t due to the time for journeys and mileage. The mileage is certainly equal to what some of our clients would be travelling in Fermanagh. To me it doesn’t make any sense. By closing they intend to save £92,000, but Enniskillen Court is a listed building and has to be maintained. I would like to know what that would cost, maybe a couple of thousand a week. And who’s going to buy it? The cost per case in Enniskillen I’m sure is pretty low.”
Garry Smyth, of Fahy Corrigan Solictors, Enniskillen, stated the meeting was an opportunity to ascertain member’s views and formulate a response to the consultation. He told the Herald there was concern not just among the legal community in Fermanagh, but the various professions that use the court house and Enniskillen town centre. Of greatest concern to the solicitor is the ‘constant erosion of services’ in Fermanagh.
“It is a trend which is all too common. Where does this continual eroding of services stop?”
If the closure does come to pass Mr Smyth said that inevitably this would mean more travel, for both the legal community and members of the public, which will present its own problems.
“Coming from a rural setting the transport infrastructure isn’t there. From rural parts of the county the expense that is involved to travel and the poor public transport system, it’s simply not practical to expect court users to travel.”
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