Category: Education

Community Law and Mediation and The Bar of Ireland Launch Podcast Series on the Evolution and Future of Community Law

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The Bar of Ireland’s Voluntary Assistance Scheme (VAS), in collaboration with Community Law & Mediation (CLM), is pleased to announce a new three‑part podcast series exploring the past, present and future of community law in Ireland.

Jointly hosted by Aoife Kelly Desmond, CEO of CLM, and Gemma McLoughlin Burke BL, Co-ordinator of the VAS, the series highlights the longstanding collaboration between barristers and community law organisations.

Episode 1 — The Origins of Community Law in Ireland

The opening episode traces the beginnings of the community law movement, from the early civil legal aid campaigns to the establishment of Ireland’s first community law centre. The conversation reflects on the significant contribution of practitioners who, from the outset, played a key role in advancing legal rights through advocacy, research, and voluntary support.

Guest contributors include:

  • Eilis Barry, CEO of FLAC
  • Professor Gerry Whyte, Trinity College Dublin

Check out the full recording of the podcast in full below:

Episode 2 — Justice from the Ground Up: The Practice of Community Law

This episode examines the frontline reality of community law today, from casework and mediation to public interest litigation and strategic campaigns. It also highlights how barristers continue to contribute essential expertise, supporting both individual clients and broader law reform efforts through the Voluntary Assistance Scheme.

Guest contributors:

  • Jane O’Sullivan, Managing Solicitor, CLM
  • Alan Brady SC, The Bar of Ireland

Check out the full recording of the podcast in full below:

Episode 3 — The Future of Community Law

The concluding episode considers the evolving legal needs of communities, including areas such as children’s law, housing, and environmental justice. It also looks at shaping the next phase of community law, particularly within a reformed civil legal aid system.

Guest contributors:

  • Claire McSweeney, Manager, Ballymun Community Law Centre
  • Éamonn Conlon SC, Chair of Community Law & Mediation

CLM Launches New Report “Community Mediation in Ireland: Unmet Need, Delivery Challenges and Emerging Opportunities”

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Today we launch a new report exploring how community mediation can better meet the needs of communities across Ireland.

The report highlights the significant but untapped potential of community mediation to prevent and resolve disputes in areas such as neighbour and wider family conflicts, as well as issues affecting young people, Travellers, refugees and new communities. It shows that mediation has the greatest impact when it is integrated with other services and tailored to the specific needs of the participants.

The report sets out practical recommendations to expand and diversify mediation services, improve access across Ireland, safeguard vulnerable parties and ensure community mediation is supported and resourced on an equal footing with family and commercial mediation.

Written by Dr Heidi Riley, Adjunct Research Fellow at University College Dublin, this research was commissioned by Community Law & Mediation and funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

We are grateful to IHREC and to all those who shared their experiences and insights throughout this process.

Read the report below.

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Community Law & Mediation’s Annual Report 2024

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2024 was a year of progress for Community Law & Mediation, as we continued our mission to provide free, accessible legal, mediation and education services to individuals and communities facing exclusion and inequality.

Our Annual Report 2024 highlights the launch of our new five-year Strategic Plan, the growth of our work in environmental and children’s law, and our ongoing advocacy for systemic change in housing, social welfare, employment and access to justice across the board.

Each figure and initiative within this report reflects the lived experiences of those we support and our collective effort to advance equality and access to justice.

Guided by our mission to empower communities, tackle underlying injustice and exclusion, and advance rights-based changes in public policy and law – This report reflects both the scale and scope of our work to ensure access to justice for all.

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CLM Housing Law / Prevention of Homelessness Training Course

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This training course will examine the law relating to homelessness in Ireland – what is the State’s obligations to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

This course will look at social housing supports, the application process, and the scheme of allocations. It will also explain tenancy rights.

The main outcomes will be

  • The prevention of homelessness for individuals and families who are at risk of losing their home.
  • Empowerment of individuals to advocate on their own behalf in respect of their housing and tenancy rights.
  • Up-skill other advocacy services and organisations in housing and tenancy rights.

Location
This course is a one-day course split over two half days on Zoom.

Cost

€200

Dates

  • Monday 19th February from 10am to 1pm
  • Tuesday 20th February from 10am to 1pm

For an application form click here or fill in the booking form below.

For more information please email education. 

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CLM Training – Public Bodies’ Statutory Duty to Eliminate Discrimination, Promote Equality, and Protect Human Rights of Staff and Service Users

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Community Law and Mediation will deliver training on:  

Public Bodies’ Statutory Duty to Eliminate Discrimination, Promote Equality, and Protect Human Rights of Staff and Service Users

This training will cover the following,

  1. An Overview of Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty
  1. Who the duty applies to
  1. Equality and Human Rights Sources:
    1. Equality Legislation
    2. Constitutional Rights
    3. European Convention on Human Rights
    4. Other International Treaties and Conventions
  1. Implementing the duty in a public body
  1. The role of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in promoting and monitoring the implementation of the duty
  1. Accountability of public bodies in implementing the duty
  1. Pilot Case Studies.

Date: Thurs 26 January 2023

Time: 10am – 1pm by zoom

Cost: Free (only 2 people per organisation)

Maximum of 20 on training to facilitate discussion

To book your place please send an email to  education@communitylawandmediation.ie

This course is funded by the Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission (IHREC)

Pilot scheme a welcome development for equality in education for students with visual impairments

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Community Law & Mediation (CLM) welcomes the decision by the State Examinations Commission to commence a pilot scheme enabling visually-impaired students to access digital versions of their exam papers.

The decision was made on foot of a lengthy campaign by Eithne Walsh, head of advocacy and communication with Féach, whose son is a visually impaired student and is due to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2023.

Eithne and her son had repeatedly requested that he be provided with a digital copy of his Leaving Certificate examination – to date, only paper-based exams have been allowed – but their requests were refused by the State Examinations Commission (SEC). CLM provided legal advocacy support to the family, and wrote to the SEC highlighting the fact that that it was acting in breach of its statutory duty under s.6 and s.7 of the Education Act 1998 and that its refusal to provide reasonable accommodation was a breach of the student’s rights to equality, education, and his imprescriptible rights as a child.

While the announcement of a pilot scheme is really positive news, this addresses just one of the many obstacles faced by students with visual impairments. For example, they do not currently have the same level of access to past (modified) papers that their fellow students have; the format of the oral examinations is particularly challenging for students who are visually impaired;  and decisions made under the Reasonable Accommodations at Certificate Examinations (RACE) Scheme are often published at short notice, leaving the students affected with little time to appeal if they do not get the supports they need under the Scheme.

Community Law & Mediation will continue to advocate on behalf of families and young people who are affected by issues such as these.

If you have a query related to the education rights of your child, contact us for free legal advice: 01 847 7804.

The Right to Education- Supporting Families & Children

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This half day course on zoom will cover the following areas – 

  • The law relating to education,  
  • Non-discrimination in education, 
  • School admissions, 
  • Schools’ code of behaviour,  
  • Suspension and expulsion by schools, 
  • Section 29 appeals to the Dept of Education, 
  • Use of reduced hours/ short day by a school for individual children, 
  • Bullying and cyber-bullying. 

Date: 15 Nov 2022  

Time: 2.30pm to 5pm 

Location: Zoom 

Cost: €150 

For an application form click here. Please send you application forms to email: education@communitylawandmediation.ie 

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