Solicitors say security lax as no weapons screening on entry to Cork courtrooms

Better security is needed in Cork courtrooms, solicitors have said, as the Courts Service has gone to public tender for a new security system for its Dublin courthouses only.

A Courts Service spokesperson told The Echo: “We take the security of our staff, court users, and the judiciary seriously, and keep same under constant review.”

They said that the existing panic alarm systems across the Dublin Estate, particularly within the Four Courts Complex, are approaching an end-of-life stage.

The spokesperson said that a modern, standardised panic alarm framework is required, with additional options such as wireless and digital app solutions being considered.

It is hoped the replacement system, the cost of which will be determined by the response tenders, will be in the last quarter of this year.

The spokesperson said: “Across the country, various security measures are also in place, many are more recent and modern than in the Four Courts and other Dublin buildings.

“An assessment of a need for a future extension of this more modern system is part of current and future plans.”

No details on what security was in place in Cork courtrooms was available when requested by the Irish Examiner.

However, solicitors who work in Cork have said there is very little security in Cork courts, such as no screening at entry to prevent people from bringing weapons into courtrooms, although this is in place in many Dublin courts.

Cork solicitor Frank Buttimer told The Echo: 

“It’s always been a concern of mine that there is such a low level of preventative security, even in the new courthouse facility in Cork. It is extremely fortunate that a serious incident has not occurred, when questions would then be raised about the lack of such security.”

A 2022 report by the joint committee on justice on courts and courthouses noted: “Most courthouses do not have a security screening process in place, ie, screening bags/persons for drugs, alcohol, and potential weapons.”

It recommended: “This should be the standard in all courthouses, to protect all attending from potential incidents.”

Cork solicitor Joseph Cuddigan said that there has been “an influx across the country” in challenging behaviour in courtrooms since he was first qualified, and attributed this to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals.

“These mental hospitals weren’t great, but they were closed down without any thought about what would be the replacement,” he said. 

“These people ended up homeless, and an influx of people with psychiatric conditions were brought through the courts and up to the prisons, and the prison can’t cope with them.”

He said that usual methods of promising reduced prison sentences for good behaviour “don’t work when you’re dealing with men or women having auditory hallucinations and the voice is saying: ‘Attack, attack’”.

“They’ve caused mayhem in prison; and where courts are concerned, the potential is there for incidents,” he said.

The fact there are a large number of gardaí giving evidence in courtrooms can mitigate some risk, but aggressive behaviour “can manifest itself in a family law setting when the judge is on his own with the parties and the registrar”.

Mr Cuddigan said that better mental health facilities would help solve the problem, adding that there is insufficient capacity in the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin and in units like St Michael’s and the Cork University Hospital mental health unit.

“These people are a very vulnerable sector, but they also have the ability to cause serious injuries to those in their immediate vicinity,” he said. “You can have alarms, security tags, and all the rest, but the behaviour is just a manifestation of the problem.”