Call for expansion of community law centres
Former chief justice Frank Clarke SC has called for a “significant expansion” of community law centres.
The current president of the Law Reform Commission was speaking at the launch of legal and advocacy group Community Law and Mediation’s (CLM) 2025 annual impact statement.
Mr Justice Clarke, who is also a CLM board member, said that ensuring access to justice and ensuring legal assistance for those who needed it also required “proper” and “consistent” funding for those centres.
He highlighted the positive impact that community-based legal groups had – including “the ability to reach places that a state-organised system finds more difficult to”.
“One of the things that has most struck me as a member of the Community Law and Mediation board is the precarious nature of our funding.
“There is no doubt that if we had more secure resources over a period of time, we would be able to enhance the work we do in essential areas, and to add some additional areas,” the former chief justice stated.
Preventative function
President of the High Court Mr Justice David Barniville said that community legal education, outreach services, early legal advice, advocacy, and mediation helped people to understand their rights, addressed difficulties at an earlier stage and, where possible, prevented problems from developing into crises.
“That preventative function may not always be the most visible aspect of access to justice, but it is often among the most valuable,” he added.
The High Court President described the work detailed in the CLM report as “jaw-dropping”, with volunteers providing assistance in more than 4,000 legal matters during 2025.
He noted that 43% of the organisation's advocacy work related to housing and homelessness.
CLM’s acting chief executive Louisa McGeehan and managing solicitor Jane O’Sullivan both called for an expansion of the community-law-centre model across Ireland.
Lack of legal aid
O’Sullivan pointed out that CLM regularly served people for whom civil legal aid was not an option, noting the lack of legal aid available for Workplace Relations Commissions (WRC) cases, some environmental claims, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), and social-welfare appeals.
“In practical terms, what that means is that, for example, a family who is left with no choice but to take a case under the Equal Status Act for failure to provide education for their autistic children is not entitled to legal aid.
“This leaves families with no option but to try and represent themselves in really complex and stressful cases, often against full legal teams,” she stated.