Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo thacaíocht a thabhairt do leasú Uimh. 35 agus gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, a thug an leasú go dtí an áit seo. The Bill is for the protection of historic and archaeological heritage. I support amendment No. 35, which proposes to insert "that the historic, archaeological and cultural heritage of Ireland, as the product of the labour, craftsmanship and talent of their forbearers, belongs equally to ... the people" and should be preserved into the future.

As the Minister of State will be aware, there is a proposal by Kerry County Council to sell a portion of ground in Tralee to the Courts Service. The Courts Service has been in charge of the current courthouse in Tralee since it was established. Some Members may have been in the courthouse. There have been plans and drawings on the wall since the 1990s to provide wheelchair access and refurbish the building and keep it as a working courthouse. Since the Courts Service took over, however, all it has done with the courthouse is to provide a fridge and a new kitchen for the judges and maybe one or two new seats. Other Covid suggestions along the lines of video link and the digital audio recording system have been approved but the building itself has been allowed to fall into disrepair. There is extreme frustration among the legal community, Kerry Law Society, the Bar Council and the people of the town that this has been allowed to happen. The Courts Service then stated that the building did not fit the needs of a modern court building and should, therefore, be moved away from the centre of town. The problem is that since these proposals were mooted three or four years ago, there has been absolutely no plan to do anything with the existing building. The building is an example of craftsmanship. It was built with stone quarried from the green in Tralee town centre, where there was an old limestone quarry. It was crafted there in the 1840s, going back to the days of Daniel O'Connell, and it has hosted many famous court trials through the years. In light of the new Family Courts Bill 2022, it is a shame that other buildings, such as the old Ulster Bank, which is now closed, and the Kerry Protestant Hall, which is across the road and also constructed of limestone from the centre of town, are not being developed as a courts hub in the centre of town. The Government's town centre first plan and its proposals in respect of carbon footprint are contrary to the proposals that are being brought forward by the Courts Service. I do not think the conveyance has gone through. I hope it is not too late. Members of Kerry Law Society made a fair point. The building they use every day is falling into disrepair but the Courts Service is saying it needs a new court building. For the overall good of archaeological heritage, keeping services in the town centre and preserving them for another 170 years, that decision should be reversed.

While I have the time, I will refer to a building in the ownership of the OPW. Having met with a group called Better Ballyduff, I went to see Rattoo tower, which is a very well-preserved round tower in the village of Ballyduff in north Kerry. While there, I met two German tourists with an interest in archaeology and Irish history. They were visiting two centres in Ireland, namely, Clonmacnoise and the round tower in Rattoo. Pointing works on the round tower have been ongoing for the past four or five years and access to the tower has been closed off for all that time. It is an area with massive tourism potential. There are no signs in Ballyduff to advertise this heritage site. It is located down a narrow road but access to the area has been closed off for many years and it does not look like anything will be done with it. The development of tourism potential in the area is being held back. I ask the Minister of State to look into the matter and see whether the round tower can be opened as soon as possible. There do not seem to be any great works going on but the tower is closed off and there is a small bit of scaffolding at the bottom of it. I ask him to look into the matter. Ballyduff is adjacent to the Wild Atlantic Way but there are no signs to divert tourists into the village. People are coming from Germany to visit the site because it is so well-preserved. I ask him to take that into account.

I support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's amendment and thank him for tabling it.

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