Senior judges join campaign to scrap park on site of planned courts complex

Senior members of the judiciary, including the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, have appealed to Dublin City Council to scrap plans for a park on land earmarked for the new family courts complex.

The Courts Service of Ireland previously wrote to the local authority to object to proposals to use part of the site for a public park.

The Irish Times reports that Mrs Justice Denham has now spoken out, as has Circuit Court president Mr Justice Raymond Groarke and District Court president Ms Justice Rosemary Horgan.

The Courts Service has not submitted a planning application for its €40 million court complex, but hopes it could still be completed by 2020.

The site is currently owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and councillors voted last May to reserve around 15 per cent of the site for open space under the new city development plan.

However, they will vote again next month on whether or not to reverse the decision following submission from the Courts Service and OPW.

In a letter to Lord Mayor Brendan Carr, Mrs Justice Denham said the plans would jeopardise the development of facilities for “some of the most vulnerable court users”.

She said the existing facilities are “very basic and fall far short of what would be expected of a modern court administering justice”.

Writing separately, Mr Justice Groarke said the park “jeopardises the viability of this project and could deprive the courts system and some of the most vulnerable court users of much-needed facilities”.