Fairgreen CIE site earmarked for new courthouse
Negotiations are at an advanced stage to secure a site for a new state-of-the-art courthouse in Galway City – it would be part of a €12 million development.
The Courts Service is currently looking at two sites close to the city centre, but its main focus is on a land bank owned by CIE at the Fairgreen.
A senior official from the Courts Service confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that it is “particularly interested” in the site which is bounded by Lough Atalia Road and the Fairgreen.
And if negotiations are successful, then there is every possibility that the new courthouse would be constructed and operational by 2020 at the latest.
For several years, the Courts Service has been anxious to move out of the existing courthouse at Woodquay as it has been deemed no longer fit for purpose – the plan has been to move to a new building on a greenfield site.
Brendan McDonald of the Courts Service said that a number of sites around the city were investigated but confirmed that there are intensive talks ongoing with CIE to acquire this property. A possible site at the Docks is also currently under consideration as a ‘fallback’. For the rest of this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week's paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.