ULSTER Unionist Councillor Howard Thornton wants the decision to downgrade Enniskillen Courthouse to a hearing centre reversed.
He believes the county is being “discriminated against” when it comes to jobs and services and told last week’s meeting of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council that the response from Stormont ministers and officials to a range of local concerns has been “pathetic.”
Councillor Thornton (pictired right) criticised a decision by Justice Minister Claire Sugden to keep Enniskillen Courthouse as a hearing centre after reversing other Courthouse closures in Armagh and Strabane.
“The Minister reprieved closures and did nothing with Enniskillen. Why are we being discriminated against in the west of the province? We are the only county in Northern Ireland without a courthouse,” he said.
“This is pathetic, questions are not being answered. Nobody is listening to us down here. Hopefully whoever takes over will do something.”
At an earlier meeting Councillor Thornton hit out at the “diminution” of jobs from the area, advising that the Department for Communities had secured an additional contract to deliver services to claimants in Great Britain which would create an additional 280 jobs in Northern Ireland. 55 of those jobs are to be based in Armagh and 225 in Belfast. An additional 170 jobs are also to be created of which 150 are to be located in Ballymena. 
The Department for Communities, he explained, has not yet responded to over 12 questions about the Jobs and Benefits office in Enniskillen.
“There has been no response,” confirmed Chief Executive Brendan Hegarty.
“At the minute we are losing jobs and nobody seems concerned,” said Councillor Thornton.