Athlone District CourtCovid 'footfall control' service to be withdrawn from courtThe use of a private contractor to manage the flow of people through the district court in Athlone during the pandemic is set to be withdrawn at the end of the month. However, a Courts Service spokesperson told the Westmeath Independent that the service was now due to end later this month. The spokesperson said the arrangement had been put in place for "footfall management," rather than court security, and that it was always regarded as "temporary" and "ancillary" to the usual security arrangements in court. "In general, we do not discuss any specific court venue's security arrangements. This temporary service has always been ancillary and additional to the security arrangements that existed before the pandemic and continued throughout it.

Source: Irish Independent November 11, 2022 20:24 UTC