Legal limbo set to continue in Mayo

Serious criminal cases in Mayo are set to be stalled again as the legal aid dispute continues into October.

Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court returns next Monday with little chance of the majority of cases proceeding.

This will be the second term of the Circuit Criminal Court that will effectively grind to a halt. The month-long summer sitting was previously impacted by the strike action last July.

Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan introduced a controversial new Criminal Legal Aid Scheme earlier this year, replacing a per-appearance fee with a €520 flat rate. The move prompted hundreds of solicitors to withdraw their services.

The Law Society said the new scheme is having a real and negative impact on how the legal aid system operates. It said the number of legal aid certificates granted collapsed to just 702, compared to July 2025 when 10,277 such certificates were issued.

Law Society President Rosemarie Loftus, a native of Ballina, told the Oireachtas Committee on Justice that a fall of this scale is deeply worrying and has been reflected in courts across the country. Meanwhile, the Minister is insisting that the new scheme is working.

The Mayo Solicitors' Bar Association and local barristers are likely to briefly address Judge Eoin Garavan when the Circuit Criminal Court resumes in Castlebar next week.

Mayo solicitor Cathy McDarby said the Minister’s unwillingness to meet with the Law Society or countenance mediation is frustrating.

“We are still out. We are going to be out. I can’t quite understand why the Minister is quite happy to wait until October 12 (for the outcome of a High Court review of his decision) while chaos is reigning in the meantime. Surely as Minister for Justice it behoves him to have a working justice system?” said Ms McDarby. “Victims aren’t having their cases dealt with and everyone lives in limbo. We have a lot of people on the streets who probably shouldn’t be,” she added.

The Ballinrobe-based solicitor accused the Minister of minimising the impact of the dispute on court proceedings.

“The courts are not working and it’s very frustrating and annoying to see the Minister telling everyone that they are working efficiently when that is patently untrue. The courts are not working efficiently and as normal, everything is being adjourned,” said Ms McDarby.

She said local solicitors want the matter resolved and are struggling to understand the Minister’s stance and rationale.

“There has to be logic to have rationale,” commented Ms McDarby.

“We are down to ‘computer says no’. I can’t understand how we have a Government who brought in a Mediation Act in 2017, a Minister who lauded mediation as way forward, a Minister who is a trained barrister which indicates a trained negotiator, yet will not negotiate,” she added.

The Irish Criminal Bar Association has released a statement urging the Minister to “consider the practical impact that the dispute is having on the courts ability to function effectively".

“The Association is acutely aware that victims who have prepared themselves in advance of trial dates, and who are often waiting for trials to occur for more than a year, are particularly vulnerable to the consequence of this disruption and the uncertainty that it has created,” said the statement.

“A failure to resolve the dispute prior the commencement of the new legal term, can only result in additional adjournments, delays and accumulated backlogs which undermine our shared objective to have a criminal legal aid system that supports the effective administration of justice. Only through real engagement between solicitors and the minister can a fair and functional criminal legal system be ensured. The Irish public and those seeking justice through the courts deserve no less,” the statement added.

• Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.