No decision yet on future of old Duleek courthouse

A Meath County Council official assured councillors at a Slane Electoral Area meeting in Duleek that no final decision had been made about the future of the old Duleek courthouse, which is in the possession of the council. Paul Monaghan told councillors that the council wanted to ensure the courthouse would be used for the benefit of the whole community and not just one section. However, the assurance did not satisfy Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher who asked when a decision had been made to change the original intention to have a library and historical display in the courthouse, Council engineer Jim Colwell said it had been planned to treat the courthouse and the village green in the same scheme. However, he had to go back and check for more information on any proposed design. Mr Monaghan told councillors the local parish priest had held discussions with the council manager on the future of the courthouse. However, nothing had been decided. Cllr Dillon Gallagher asked when a decision had been made to change the original intentions for the courthouse. "I didn't know it had been changed," she said. She thought that the idea of bringing historical artefacts of the parish to the courthouse for display was a good one. It could be an asset to Duleek, just as the Kells Heritage Centre was an asset to Kells. "That could be done in Duleek because the building is secure," she said. "Now we are in No Man's Land again." Cllr Eoin Holmes said the building was a public one and there could be "no behind-the-scenes" agreement on its future. "We want to be seen to be offering it out to everybody," he said. Cllr Jimmy Cudden said that the building had been lying idle for a very long time. He had always held the opinion, he said, that he did not want any one individual or group to have ownership of the building. He said the old school had been converted to a community hall. However, at one stage when he went to look for the key so that a Meath County Council meeting could be held there, nobody could tell him who had it. "No disrespect to the individual concerned, but I found that a person in Drogheda had the key." He said that the parish priest's meeting with the council had been "purely explanatory". He (cllr) would hate to see the courthouse lying idle for a further two to three years.