The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, took justice to new heights yesterday when he stood on the roof of Cork Courthouse before members of the judiciary and Garda Síochána, writes Louise Geaney
"I didn't know when I was up there that the building had burnt down in the late 1880s," Mr McDowell joked later at the signing of the contracts for the major revamp of the city courthouse on Washington Street, which has been closed for over three years.
"This city should be proud of this new palace of justice, which will be a landmark building in Cork. Congratulations must go to the council and the courts service on the innovative way they came together to ensure the project will go ahead," Mr McDowell said.
The Minister said that, when confronted with the financial cost of the project, €25 million, he feared for its future.
"But the fruitful interchange between Cork City Council, Courts Service and the Department of Justice has seen an innovative way of putting it in place. The cost of it will now be spread over a number a years, instead of being deferred to a 'magical date' sometime in the future. The premises will undergo a magnificent refurbishment of the fabric of the building," he said, adding that he, or his successor, will see it finished by autumn of 2004. "Justice can now be carried out in Cork in the dignity it deserves."
Controversy had arisen due to the stalling of the project in recent years, which saw the courts operating out of premises on Camden Quay.
"I don't want to comment on Camden Quay. It's coming to an end and we're glad of it," said Mr Patrick Moran, Circuit Court judge and representative of the Board of Courts Service.
"I was the last judge to sit in Washington Street and I'm looking forward to going back there as soon as possible to our new Palais de Justice."
The project - the largest refurbishment of a court venue since the reconstruction of the Four Courts after the Civil War - is due to be completed by the end of 2004 at a cost of €25 million.
Facilities will include seven courtrooms, consultation rooms, waiting areas, family law facilities, disabled access, media facilities, judges' chambers, legal practitioners' room, jury rooms and conference rooms, as well as an underground tunnel for the safe movement of prisoners.