Senior judges line up against city park plan for Smithfield

Chief Justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham has appealed to Dublin City Council to scrap plans for a park at lands earmarked for new family courts complex.

Mrs Justice Denham is one of several senior members of the judiciary, including president of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke and District Court president Ms Justice Rosemary Horgan, to lend weight to the campaign to prevent part of the site in Smithfield being zoned as open space.

The Office of Public Works bought the site of the former Maguire and Paterson match factory on Church Street and Hammond Lane in 1999 but it has remained vacant since.

The Courts Service plans to build a €40 million family and children’s court complex on the site, which is just over one acre and close to the Four Courts. While no planning application has been lodged, the Courts Service said the designs are at an advanced stage and it hopes to complete the building in 2020.

City development plan

However, councillors last May voted to reserve about 15 per cent of the site for open space under the new city development plan, which will come into force later this year.

In a letter to Lord Mayor Brendan Carr, seen by The Irish Times, Mrs Justice Denham, writing in her capacity as chair of the Courts Service Board, said the councillors' decision could jeopardise the development of much-needed facilities for "some of the most vulnerable court users".

Family law and cases involving children were currently dealt with in a number of different locations in the city which were “very basic and fall far short of what would be expected of a modern court administering justice”, she said.

Challenging backgrounds

The cases often involved people from disadvantaged or challenging family backgrounds, she said. “Indeed, the very inadequacy of the facilities contributes to the stress and trauma experienced by those attending a family or child care case.”

Also writing to Mr Carr, Mr Justice Groarke said the majority of judicial separation and divorce proceedings in the courts were dealt with by the Circuit Court, and the new development would provide a more sympathetic and supportive environment for people during a very difficult and anxious time in their lives.

“The courthouse is being planned and designed as a monumental civic building that will serve to enhance the area and the city generally. A reduction in the size of the site to prove a small park as envisaged . . . jeopardises the viability of this project and could deprive the courts system and some of the most vulnerable court users of much-needed facilities,” he said.

In her letter to Mr Carr, written on behalf of judges of the Dublin District Court, Ms Justice Horgan said the current basic facilities meant that victims of domestic violence and their perpetrators could be in close proximity while they waited for cases to be heard.

The OPW and the Court Service have also made submissions to the council asking that the proposed open space zoning not be implemented. Councillors will next month vote on the retention of the zoning.