The government has accepted an offer from Ramsey Commissioners for the town’s old courthouse.

The Department of Home Affairs held a meeting on Wednesday with members of the local authority about the matter.

The commissioners made a ’revised’ offer, which has been accepted by the government.

The government says that this offer will now be put forward for consideration as part of the established process for the sale of its assets.

Minister Bill Malarkey MHK said: ’The meeting was very constructive and amicable and the offer presented by Ramsey Commissioners is acceptable to the department.

’This proposal will be subject to due process and a further announcement made in the near future.’

Andy Cowie of Ramsey Commissioners added: ’We are delighted to have reached an agreement with the Department of Home Affairs.

’Discussions with the Minister and his officers have been very productive. While this is not the end of the process, it is an important step towards our aim of retaining Ramsey Courthouse for the benefit of the local community.’

The thorny issue of what will happen with the courthouse has been rumbling on since early March.

On March 7 Home Affairs Minister Bill Malarkey told the House of Keys that historic building had been put on the market that morning, at a price of £475,000.

He said as Minister he had a responsibility to the taxpayer to ensure that the government got the best price it could for the property.

The courthouse is on the market with estate agents Chrystals, who then described it as a ’unique opportunity to acquire a piece of Ramsey’s history’.

Mr Malarkey told MHKs there had been at least two expressions of interest and he was hopeful that a decision on a sale could be reached within the next two to three weeks.

But then Ramsey Commissioners got involved and a meeting of people from the town objected to the sale.

On March 17 Ramsey Commissioners unanimously agreed to submit a formal offer to the Department of Home Affairs to buy the Courthouse and grounds for the value of £397,800.

The offer involved providing a 26-year rent-free lease of the police office within the town hall, for which the DHA currently pays £15,000 a year.

The subject was also raised in questions in Tynwald and Mr Malarkey backtracked.

On March 21 in Tynwald he defended the process the department had adopted in seeking a buyer.

’The process is in line with government regulations,’ Mr Malarkey told Tynwald.

’No decision has been taken at this time as to what is going to happen to Ramsey Courthouse or the land.

’This has been an exercise of testing the water and testing whether there is interest. As far as I am concerned it has been extremely successful - and it has been extremely successful for the commissioners.

’We both have a clear direction of what people want.’

What the new commissioners’ offer is has not been made public.

And what the building will be used for is also not yet apparent.

The courthouse once housed the police as well as a courthouse. Later it was the town’s post office.