Another local service set to bite the dust

Not for the first time in Meath, a local town finds itself having to fight to retain sittings of its local district court. The revelation that the Courts Service has earmarked Kells District Court for closure has sparked anger in the local community, amid claims the loss of this local service will cause large-scale inconvenience to members of the public in Kells and the wider north Meath region and will impact negatively on local businesses. Local councillors and members of the legal profession have been among the first to react, with the president of the Meath Solicitors Bar Association saying they would not take the threat lying down. Amid an ongoing policy of retrenchment over the past decade, smaller courthouses in several parts of Meath have already been closed and their lists moved to either Kells, Navan or Trim. Oldcastle and Dunshaughlin were the most recent Meath towns to lose court services, while Athboy also lost its courts some years ago. Kells, however, is a larger town with district court sittings three weeks each month, which brings considerable numbers of people into the town from over a wide area. The likelihood is that the Kells court lists will be transferred to either Navan or Trim should the closure plans go ahead. Navan and Trim are now the only towns in Meath with sufficiently large purpose-built court buildings. In the modern era, standard courthouse requirements include basic facilities such as consultation rooms, victim support facilities and holding cells for prisoners. Kells Court is held in temporary premises in the town's former VEC building and has no purpose-built facilities. The Courts Service, since its establishment, has amalgamated over 150 venues around the country and more than 40 courthouses around the country are currently being considered for closure. The Courts Service said its recent review looked at criteria including caseload, proximity to an alternative venue, physical condition of the buildings and availability of holding cell facilities as well as the likely impact on other agencies, such as An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service. Nonetheless, as has been pointed out this week, there is a huge throughput of cases in Kells as it caters for a substantial area of the county, encompassing most parts of north Meath, right down to Ballivor in the south-west part of the county. From the perspective of local businesspeople in particular, the loss of business which has been generated by having a regular court sitting in the town will be keenly felt. On another level, it is also a blow to the prestige and status of Kells to lose its district court sittings over a decade after the town also lost its circuit court sittings to Trim. This latest closure threat is part of a pattern of closures of key services throughout rural Ireland which has dismayed those who advocate keeping services in country towns and villages as part of an effort to hold together the fabric of local communities around the country. Recently, one of the country's main banks, AIB, closed a number of branches around the country, including two in Dunshaughlin and Dunboyne, forcing customers to travel further to access services. Rural dwellers in smaller towns have, in some case, been forced into adopting almost a siege-like mentality as they have watched a growing list of crucial local services being lost to larger towns and cities. Smaller rural towns and villages have watched as they have lost local post offices, bank branches, garda stations, shops, petrol stations and pubs. The real value of the services provided by these local service providers should never be underestimated and they are of the utmost importance to both local businesses and individuals in the area, especially those who may not have the facilities to travel to larger towns. They are a focal point in local communities and a pivotal part of rural life as we have come to know it. Citing the need to create efficiencies and value for money, aspects of government policy in recent times have had a detrimental impact on rural communities. Decisions at national level on the closure and downgrading of small garda stations, cuts to small rural schools, bed closures and removal of services at local hospitals and cuts to community health resources and rural transport links all are eroding the confidence of local communities in towns and villages to create vibrant and self-sustaining communities. A re-orientation of policies to support communities and encourage growth instead of removing services from local areas is required. Otherwise a grim vista of half-abandoned smaller towns and villages across the country will be the legacy of this difficult economic era as people are driven out of their own areas and into larger centres of population where better services exist.