THE FATE of the controversial Thornton Hall super prison in north Dublin might still be uncertain given the parlous state of the public finances, but the Government is pressing ahead with appointing advisers to the project.

This week saw a notice go out for tenders from law firms, interested in advising the National Development Finance Agency, which has been charged with procuring the superprison on behalf of the department of justice.

There should be plenty of interest in legal services. According to the document, the Government plans to advertise the project in the European journal by the end of this year.

In the meantime, it hopes to appoint legal advisers by the end of March. Tenders have to be submitted by March 1st.

The “financial close” for the project is set as mid-2013, which looks a tad optimistic in the current economic climate.

The law firms must have a minimum turnover of €10 million and provide professional indemnity insurance cover of €6.5 million for the term of the agreement and an additional six years.

Firms must also have worked on at least two public-private projects with a capital value of at least €50 million that have reached “financial close” in the past four years.

Thornton Hall has already run up a bill of €41.8 million in site costs, professional fees and security. Expect this to ratchet up once the legal advisers are appointed.

The 2,200-inmate jail was to have been completed by the Leargas consortium, which included Kerry property developer Bernard McNamara, who last week admitted he is broke, but that arrangement bit the dust thanks to the recession and the credit crunch.

The State intends to pay for the prison in annual instalments over 25 years if it can find a group to build it at the right cost. We wish them luck.