Ballyconnell Court to close in July

Ballyconnell District Court is to sit for the last time in July (Tuesday, July 9), shutting its doors ahead of the annual summer court term break.

Local District Court Judge Sean MacBride confirmed the news when sitting in Ballyconnell Court yesterday (Tuesday).
He said from the bench that news of the closure marked a “sad day” for the west Cavan town. He told those in attendance that a lot of money had been spent on the building between 2005 and 2007 and he had “fought hard” for the sitting’s retention.
“I loved coming to Ballyconnell as the people were the salt of the earth and remind me of my native Donegal,” said Judge MacBride.
The future of the district courts in both Ballyconnell and Virginia were among 40 district court sittings reviewed outside of Dublin by the Courts Services earlier this year. However, Virginia Court is to be kept open, while sittings in Ballyconnell are to transfer to Cavan Town.
As a result, County Cavan will now be left with two district court sittings in Cavan Town and Virginia catering for a population of 73,183.
The Virginia District Court will deal with cases largely from the Bailieborough Garda Division and cover a population of between 25,000 to 30,000, four times a month.
No indication has yet been given as to whether additional court days will be made available in Cavan to cope with the extra listings from Ballyconnell. The most recent figures show Virginia had dealt with 2,773 cases in 2010, while Ballyconnell and Clones looked after almost 1,000 each.
Over the past 20 years, there have been 14 court closures in Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Leitrim and Longford. Among the courts to close in Cavan were Arva, Bailieborough, Ballyjamesduff, Belturbet, Cootehill, Dowra and Kingscourt. In Monaghan, Ballybay and Castleblayney; Leitrim, Mohill, Ballinamore and Manorhamilton; Meath, Oldcastle and Longford, Granard, have also closed over the years. Bailieborough also lost a sitting of the Circuit Court.