FUNDING FOR a new multi million court complex in Wygram was announced this afternoon as part of a €2bn government stimulus package.

The controversial courthouse is expected to be funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) which funds construction projects across Europe.

The Echo previously revealed that the Courts Service was very anxious to progress the project at the 19th Century buildings as soon as possible despite local objections over the additional traffic the complex will bring to the already traffic-choked Davitt Road and nearby areas.
The proposed courthouse, designed by Newenham Mulligan Architects, would incorporate the L-shaped Municipal Buildings for use as offices and erect a new block to the rear, with four courts stacked on top of each other, accommodating circuit and district court sittings and family law and children’s court sittings also.
Wexford district court currently sits at a rented premises in Ardcavan, while the circuit court is held at the old county hall in town.
Michael Grace, chief architect for the project, said the contemporary building would not be “out of keeping with the scale of courthouses in other county towns” and, in Wexford, the much larger scale Opera House “happily co-exists with houses”.
The complex, as planned, would extend to 4,680sq m and is likely to cost over €10 million.
Built as Tate’s School in 1867, the Municipal Buildings in Wygram became the headquarters of Wexford Town Council from the 1950s to 2007, when the 1.5-acre property was sold to the Courts Service for €3 million as a site for Wexford’s courthouse.
Permission was granted in November 2010 under part nine of the 2000 Planning Act, under which there is no right of third party appeal to An Bord Pleanála. Also, because it was a “security” project, only limited information was made publicly available.

Further funding announcements for school projects in the county is also anticipated under the stimulus package.