A leading barrister has slammed court conditions across County Donegal saying people can’t even get a coffee in them.
Barrister Damian Crawford said conditions are completely inadequate and must be upgraded.
Mr Crawford said it is not good enough that solicitors or barristers cannot even meet their clients in private.
“If we want to chat or have a discussion with a client we must do that out on the street with traffic going by. That’s juts not good enough,” he said.
Mr Crawford referred to Letterkenny Courthouse which he said did not even have enough seats for members of the public to sit down in
“There are no facilities for people with children and you can’t even get a cup of coffee because there are no vending machines.
“It certainly needs to be updated,” he said.
There are plans to build a new courthouse in Letterkenny on the old Leisure Centre site on the town’s High Road.
However it is unclear when construction will commence because of the recent economic downturn.
Mr Crawford added that poor facilities were not just confined to Letterkenny courthouse.
He says Buncrana courthouse is equally in need of updating.
“I can remember having consultations with clients in the lane at the side of Buncrana courthouse in the snow because there are not proper facilities there either,” he said.
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