TikTok video sparks concerns over security at old Wicklow courthouse
The old courthouse has been lying vacant since 2010 when the district court transferred their operations to Bray due to health and safety concerns at the courthouse.
Circuit court sittings had already relocated from Wicklow town to Bray in 2008.
During the June meeting of Wicklow Municipal District, Independent Cllr John Snell raised concern about how security measures were breached that allowed Mr Robinson gain access to the building.
Cllr Snell believes it was a concerning development and called for better monitoring controls of the building.
Cllr Graham Richmond indicated he is working with Tanainste Simon Harris to try and determine the future use of the site.
In response district administrator Georgina Franey said local officials don't maintain the court and that it remains in the hands of the OPW although archivist Catherine Wright has asked for permission to access the building.
Following a parliamentary question submitted by Wicklow TD John Brady in May, Justice Minister Jim O' Callaghan said a structural and internal review of the site is currently being compiled by the Courts Service.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
14 hours ago
- Sunday World
Councillor hits out at anti-immigrant graffiti targeting asylum seekers in Belfast
The square has been at the centre of recent anti-immigrant protests Those responsible for graffiti on the wall at an east Belfast square targeting asylum seekers should be 'ashamed', an Alliance Party councillor has said. The message scrawled onto a wall alongside crudely painted crosshairs at CS Lewis Square close to the Newtownards Road reads: 'Asylum seekers will be dealt with'. Alliance Party councillor Peter McReynolds said the message had been reported to police. "Depressing to see this kind of graffiti appearing near CS Lewis Square in East Belfast, especially in what is a positive and inclusive space,' he posted on his X account. 'I've reported it and it will be removed. Those who did this should be ashamed of themselves.' We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The square is named after the renowned Belfast-born author of the Chronicles of Narnia and features seven bronze sculptures from 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', including Aslan, The White Witch, Mr Tumnus, The Beavers, The Robin and The Stone Table. The PSNI has been approached for comment. In recent months, a number of anti-immigration protests and rallies have been held in the square, which has also featured in videos posted by social media accounts showing people engaged in vigilante-style activity. Last week, TikTok took action to ban a number of accounts linked to the activity. The @irishbreedulsterr handle, which belonged to the Irish Bred Ulster Rared TikTok account, had amassed more than 19,500 followers and over 116,000 likes before it was banned from the platform. Videos showing individuals aggressively confronting members of ethnic minority communities were being posted on the account until Monday evening. Anyone trying to access the account is now met with a message informing them the account is banned. 'The account irishbreedulsterr is no longer available,' the message adds. The PSNI has distanced themselves from those involved, labelling the activity as 'racism pure and simple'. Members of the group had suggested on social media that they had been working closely with the PSNI, claiming officers have publicly 'thanked them' in the past. In response, the PSNI released a statement saying: 'Such activity is not protecting this community, it is attempting to control it. It is racism pure and simple.' Last week, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly also condemned the behaviour. "Any vigilantism is wrong. It must be condemned. It has no place in Northern Ireland,' she said. The graffiti in east Belfast Today's News in 90 Seconds - 17 August
Irish Post
2 days ago
- Irish Post
Who owns the legacy of the Troubles?
MY FRIEND Lyra McKee died from a gunshot wound and became a symbol of a post-Troubles generation. She was a young lesbian and a freelance journalist starting to establish a reputation. One night in April 2019 she stood watching a riot in Derry. Dissident republicans who had rejected the peace deal of 1998 were throwing stones and petrol bombs at police officers who had come into the Creggan estate to make arrests. Riots of this kind were common during the period of the Troubles, generated by both republican and loyalist communities, often with the police as the main target. I watched many riots as a young journalist as Lyra did that night, standing behind police or army lines or occasionally on the sidelines for a clearer view, depending on how safe I felt there. On that night in Derry a man came forward with a pistol and fired at the police. One of his bullets struck Lyra in the head. She then became a symbol of change because this was not supposed to happen. The violence was meant to be behind us. Most of those who had led the violence of the past agreed on that. And Lyra was seen as part of a post conflict generation. She would have been watching that riot perhaps because she had never or rarely seen such a thing. She would have regarded it as a throwback to an awful time. British prime Minister Theresa May applauds with Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and mourners as the hearse leaves the church after the funeral of murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast (Pic: Rolling News) Her symbolic importance was such that her funeral at St Anne's cathedral in Belfast was attended by the then Prime Minister Theresa May and several dignitaries including the Northern Irish First Minister, Arlene Foster. Her writings were republished, and one particular piece was seen as speaking for her whole generation. As a lesbian writing to her younger self she had said: 'It won't always be like this. It's going to get better.' The tragic irony of how she had died was that it seemed to affirm that the awfulness continued despite her hopes and confidence. And the starkness of that seemed to reinforce a determination that her vision would be fulfilled, that her death could not be pointless, that there had to be a Northern Ireland free of violence and prejudice in which a new generation had put the past behind them. Young people today in Northern Ireland seem divided between those who regard themselves as a fruitful new generation untainted by the past and those who retain the anger and suffer inherited trauma. Both often seem naive to me, as inevitably young people will when trying to respond to events that took place before they were born. Some say they are not like the generation of their parents which made a mess of things. Some carry grief for what their families suffered and struggle to understand a society that has moved on. Take Liadan Ní Chuinn who has just published an extraordinary collection of short stories that the critics are raving about. Liadan is a pseudonym and there is no public disclosure over who she or he is. The name is female. The Irish Times has said of Every One Still Here that it deserves to be considered 'among the best Irish books of the 21st century'. That's one hell of an endorsement. The stories are largely about generational trauma, featuring young characters who agonise over the legacy of the Troubles and relate the deaths of older relations to the stress and violence of those days. The book is brilliantly written. An energetic imagination relates characters and situations vividly and movingly. There is a coherent and authentic young voice throughout. In the closing story a character Rowan confronts an older person, Shane who doesn't want to dwell on the past and tells him he'll get over it. Rowan is furious and the older character is saying that the past is behind us and best left there. This presents us with a counter to the image of Lyra McKee who is taken to symbolise the generation that has moved on. There can be no question that Liadan is a major artist, an impressively evocative writer but there is naïveté and warped perspective here too. That last story ends the book with a passionate litany of many of those who were killed by British soldiers during the Troubles, many of the soldiers being defended by their own officers and by government ministers; few were charged and convicted of murder. The scandal of murders by soldiers is well recorded yet few have ever been held accountable. But Ní Chuinn's vision of the cause of conflict presents the British army as the main source of grief. And this book is not alone in thinking like that. The First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, who has said that there was no alternative to the IRA campaign, has recently spoken of how she and those around her were moved by the horror of young men being killed by soldiers. That conviction that the primary evil, the most damnable source of grief and grievance was the British army may be reality for some but what is missing here is context. Most of the killing was done by the IRA and by loyalist paramilitary groups. How can that simply be forgotten or discounted as irrelevant? There is danger in that blindness for that simplistic account of our past is what drives the dissident republicans still, the ones who couldn't compromise for peace, the ones who shot Lyra McKee. See More: Lyra McKee, Northern Ireland, Troubles
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Girl, 17, sexually assaulted by man in his 30s in main stage area of music festival – as cops hunt for attacker
FESTIVAL HORROR Girl, 17, sexually assaulted by man in his 30s in main stage area of music festival – as cops hunt for attacker A 17-YEAR-OLD girl was sexually assaulted at a music festival over the weekend. West Mercia Police have launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred in Ledbury. It occurred between 10pm and 10:30pm at Lakefest on Saturday August 9 in the main stage area. Police said that an unknown man lifted the 17-year-old girl's skirt before sexually assaulting her. The man was described as being in his 30s, about 5'7", slim build, white with brown hair, a brown beard and a small moustache. He was wearing a green shirt, black trousers and a silver ring on his finger. Read more News NOW BOOT HIM OUT TikTok migrant who taunted Brits filmed sick 'how to kill your wife' rant Police have appealed for anyone with information, or those matching the description, to come forward. They are also appealing for anyone who may have been the victim of a similar incident at Lakefest. It said: "It is thought some people who attended the festival might be from outside of our force area, so officers ask for this appeal to be shared with anyone who you know was at the event over the weekend."
