Courthouse closure doesn’t add up: Robinson

Last week, the Sentinel reported on Mr Ford’s assertion that the Courthouse would remain open for the immediate future, but that it would close when the court boundaries would reform later this year.

George Robinson had raised the issue of Limavady Courthouse’s impending closure with the Justice Minister during question time at Stormont.

Mr Ford responded: “Limavady courthouse is not scheduled to close until after the reform of court boundaries and the creation of a single jurisdiction for County Court and Magistrates’ Court business. The reform of court boundaries is planned within the forthcoming Faster, Fairer Justice Bill, which will be introduced in the Assembly later this year.”

Mr. Robinson further asked: “Can the Minister give an estimated cost of maintaining the building after closure, taking into consideration that it would be a viable asset if there was a security alert at the Londonderry courthouse?”

The Minister replied: “I am afraid that I cannot give the current estimate of what it will cost to maintain the building after closure. It will certainly be significantly less than the running costs of the building and it will mitigate what would have been a very significant requirement for capital investment under the Disability Discrimination Act.”

Now, George Robinson expressed disappointment that “this vital access point for local people to access the legal system is to be removed without any consideration of how it could be used in the future for the benefit of the Limavady Borough.”

He added: “I thoroughly disagree with the Ministers assertion that it will be considerably cheaper to close Limavady when you consider the closure will involve additional Police hours to travel to court cases and expenses incurred by legal representatives which may be passed on to the public purse via legal aid.”

He concluded: “Finances are important but the consequences of closing Limavady cannot be justified on a financial argument.”