Mayo county councillors have called on the Minister for Justice and the Courts Service to reverse the decision to close the five local courthouses in Balla, Kilkelly, Foxford, Killala and Crossmolina, claiming such a move will sound the death knell for the five rural towns.
Cllr Michael Ring said he was opposed to the closure of the rural courts. "I think it is a step in the wrong direction. It is wrong that these courthouses are closed simply because they want to upgrade the bigger courthouses," he said.
"That is wrong for the small rural areas. It is taking business and services out of these towns when these five courthouses should be refurbished and added to."
Senator Frank Chambers said he genuinely condemned the decision of the Courts Services Commission. "The British could afford to put courthouses in these towns 200 years ago. The elected representatives had no say in this decision but there is a substantial price being paid by these five towns."
Cllr Ernie Caffrey asked: "Why should the people of Crossmolina have to travel to bigger places for a court service? We should be fighting to keep these open.
"We see what happens to small towns around the country. The Aldis, Tescos and other multinationals are drawing business out of the smaller towns.
"We now have the State closing down services in the small towns, adding to the problem. If we progress down that road these towns will eventually become derelict. It is time to call stop."
Cllr Frank Leneghan said courthouses had always been landmarks in rural towns, like post offices and Garda stations. Now it had come to the stage where one pressed a button to talk to a garda.