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Croke Park will be used for criminal trials during the first three months of 2021, in an agreement with the GAA worth € 437,000.
The Court Service will use the conference facilities at the largest stadium in the state to provide adequate rooms for court hearings where the number of parties involved (attorneys, juries, witnesses and others) would exceed the number that could be safely housed inside most normal courtrooms. , or for trials that are expected to last longer than usual.
In addition to rental costs, the use of the facilities will cost about 302,000 euros more when catering, security and ICT costs are taken into account, said a spokesman for the Courts Service.
The Courts Service and GAA have worked to organize adequate and safe facilities for those who must appear in court, the professionals who might work there, the judges, staff, members of the Irish Prison Service and members of An Garda Síochána, the spokesman said.
Three courts
The new court facility will allow three courts to be seated, and it is planned to provide up to 200 hearing days during the settlement, which runs from January to March. The initiative is part of the plan to ensure that as many judicial matters as possible can continue safely during the pandemic.
Angela Denning, executive director of the service, has spoken on several occasions about the difficulty of finding non-judicial buildings where jury trials can be carried out safely, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Croke Park contract was signed by Mrs. Denning and Mark Dorman, Croke Park Stadium Director.
When looking for suitable venues off your property, the service has very specific requirements that must be met in order to conduct hearings safely, particularly the need for different access and exit routes for different court users, the spokesperson said.
A team involving health and safety, operations, ICT and facilities management has been involved in evaluating venues that might be suitable for court hearings, he said.
“We have been challenged across the country to try to facilitate criminal trials, in proper and safe locations, amid our responsibilities to keep courts operational and court staff, judiciary, juries and users safe.” said Ms. Denning.
Outside of Dublin, the service has been using 12 non-court venues, and feedback from juries and others has been very positive, he said.
Dorman said it was appropriate that Croke Park, a “great national institution,” be used as a vital support to the democratic functioning of the country.
The stadium, he said, “is no stranger to big adverse battles.”
In addition to the 12 test centers outside of Dublin already in operation, the Court Service had plans to add two more, in Sligo and Monaghan, in 2021.
Hearings in virtual courts
During the period between April and December of this year, the Court Service organized 2,100 virtual court hearings, which in turn facilitated the hearing of thousands of motions, mentions, calls and lists, as well as full hearings, the spokesperson said.
It also facilitated 10,754 video calls from courts to prisons during the period from March to November, quadrupling the figures from the previous year, and an additional measure aimed at reducing contacts and movements, in the context of the pandemic.
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