Councillor Annemarie Ryan Shiner brought forward a Notice of Motion at this month’s meeting of the Tipperary – Cahir – Cashel Municipal District.
She made the point that the court services are centralised in Nenagh, and those coming from West Tipp are travelling more than 100km in a round-trip.
The court services in Tipp Town were removed during Covid, and it was planned to be reviewed at a later time.
Cllr. Ryan-Shiner says it’s creating backlogs and delays.
“The District Court in Tipp Town, when it was there, served all of West Tipp – Cashel, Cahir and the hinterlands – so centralising everything into Nenagh, I would argue, has led to delays and backlogs. The solicitors have to go to Nenagh, the Gardaí have to go to Nenagh, and the ordinary person has to go to Nenagh. All the courts are there – the District Court, Family, the licensing law, public and private – it’s all been centrally located in Nenagh. I think it’s really important that it is reviewed, like it said it would be reviewed by the district court services, and that it is restored and brought back to Tipperary Town.”
The independent councillor highlighted that there is no public transport from Tipp Town to Nenagh, which causes unnecessary stress for people, solicitors, and Gardaí who need to appear in court.
A letter will now be written to the court services with the request outlining the need for its restoration.
“It’s a huge strain on already strained resources, I would argue. There is perfect sense in having it back in the town; it’s good for the towns economy, it’s good for the status of the town, and it even serves a social purpose in the sense that we need a court service back in our town; people have the right to be able to access court services without that undue pressure of travelling over 100km roundtrip to get to court. I mean, Tipperary is a huge county.”
