Our new free legal advice clinic schedule for 2026 provides more frequent and convenient access to free legal advice for people living in Limerick.
New weekly phone clinic
We are pleased to introduce a new weekly phone clinic,making it easier to access legal advice when you need it. Appointments are 20 minutes long and take place over the phone with a qualified lawyer.
We provide independent confidential advice on a wide range of matters, including homelessness, housing, education, employment, debt and social welfare.
Appointments must be booked in advance – call 061 536 100 or fill in our online booking form.
Bi-monthly face-to-face clinic
In-person appointments are available bi-monthly in the following areas: Ballinacurra Weston, Moyross, Southill and St Mary’s Park.
These clinics are by appointment only. Appointments can be booked by calling 061 536 100 or through our online booking form.
Upcoming dates and locations (please note, this is not a walk-in service, all consultations are on an appointment only basis):
July
Moyross Community Enterprise Centre
Tuesday 14th July 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Phone Clinic
Thursday 16th July 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Novas Limerick, Mungret Street, Limerick
Tuesday 21st July 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Southill Community Hub
Wednesday 22nd July 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
August
Our Lady of Lourdes Community Centre, Ballinacurra Weston
Tuesday 11th August 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Novas Limerick, Mungret Street, Limerick
Tuesday 18th August 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Phone Clinic
Thursday 20th August 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
St. Mary’s Alms House
Tuesday 25th August 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
September
Phone Clinic
Thursday 3rd September 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Moyross Community Enterprise Centre
Thursday 8th September 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Southill Community Hub
Wednesday 16th September 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
Novas Limerick, Mungret Street, Limerick
Tuesday 22nd September 2026
10:30am-12:00pm
This service is free and available to people living in the regeneration areas & to residents of other underserved areas within Limerick City.
Please be aware that dates and times can be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.
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
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.
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.
No child should have to grow up homeless in unsuitable emergency accommodation.
It’s time to put children’s rights at the heart of housing reform. Every child deserves a home.
This #WorldHomelessDay, we’re calling for urgent action to protect children living in unsuitable emergency accommodation. Right now, more than 16,000 people in Ireland are in emergency accommodation and 5,145 are children.
Too many families are confined to single hotel rooms for months or even years, without space to cook, play, study or simply enjoy their childhood.
Recent reports by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Mercy Law Resource Centre and the Ombudsman for Children have all highlighted the devastating impact on families living in emergency accommodation and family hubs — from disrupted education to lasting harm on children’s health, wellbeing and development.
The ongoing review of the Housing Act 1988 is a crucial chance to put children’s rights at the centre of housing law.
Read our letter to the Minister for Housing below:
There is no requirement in law for a household to have a local connection to an area in order to access emergency accommodation. Despite this, we frequently encounter local authorities seeking to apply this requirement in our casework.
In many cases, this has led to vulnerable homeless people, including women and children fleeing domestic violence, sleeping in their cars or couch surfing in wholly inadequate and overcrowded accommodation.
Read our FAQ and case study below to find out more about what a local connection test is and what your rights are if you are refused access to emergency accommodation on this basis.
What does the law say?
The Housing Act 1988 (the “1988 Act”) sets out the legal test definition for homeless. You are legally homeless if:
You do not have somewhere you can reasonably stay; or
You are living in a hospital or night shelter;
and
You are unable to attain accommodation out of your own resources.
These are the only factors that a local authority can lawfully consider when it is carrying out a homeless assessment.
There is no requirement in the 1988 Act for a household to have a local connection to an area. Additionally, there is no requirement in the 1988 Act for a household to first be approved for social housing supports.
Why are local authorities applying a local connection test?
We believe that the application of the local connection test to households seeking access to emergency accommodation is rooted in the fact that local authorities are incorrectly applying the criteria for accessing social housing supports, to households seeking access to emergency accommodation.
In essence, social housing supports and emergency homeless accommodation provisions are governed by two separate legal frameworks. Each form of accommodation serves an entirely different purpose.
Social housing supports are designed to meet the medium to long term housing needs of a household. A household must establish a number of criteria in order to access social housing supports, including establishing a local connection to the area.
On the other hand, emergency accommodation, as the name suggests, is designed to meet the short-term housing needs of a household, that arise on an urgent basis. A household must meet the legal test of homeless, as set out in the 1988 Act above, in order to access emergency accommodation.
In our experience, local authorities frequently confuse the two legal frameworks and can, for example, wrongly apply the eligibility criteria for accessing social housing supports to households who are seeking to access social housing supports.
What is the local connection protocol?
We are aware that the County and City Managers Association (“CCMA”) published the “Local Connection Protocol for Homeless presentations outside county of origin” in July 2023 (the “Local Connection Protocol”).
The Local Connection Protocol claims to provide guidance to local authorities in dealing with households who are presenting to local authorities that are not the local authorities in their ‘county of origin’ for a homeless assessment.
We do not believe there is any basis in law for the Local Connection Protocol. Despite this, we see local authorities seeking to apply the Local Connection Protocol to homeless assessments in our casework.
A positive outcome for our client
Our client and her seven children were forced to flee their home owing to ongoing domestic violence.
Our client returned to the county where she was from, and where she had spent her childhood and much of her adult life. Upon their return, the family stayed temporarily with friends and family, as they did not have the resources to secure their own accommodation. They lived in overcrowded conditions, often sharing a single bedroom.
It was clear that the family met the legal definition of homelessness under section 2 of the 1988 Act, making them eligible for emergency accommodation supports. However, our client was advised by the local authority that she needed to return to the county from where they had fled, in order to access emergency accommodation. The local authority was basing this decision on the Local Connection Protocol.
Our client made a number of unsuccessful attempts to secure emergency accommodation from the local authority. At this point, our client was referred into our Traveller accommodation legal advice clinic by a local advocacy group who had been assisting her.
We engaged in correspondence with the local authority, highlighting the unlawful basis of the local connection protocol, emphasising the critical situation of the family of the Local Connection Protocol and requesting an immediate homeless assessment for the family.
Following this correspondence, our client was eventually offered emergency accommodation for herself and her children, with a view to securing more permanent secure housing as a next step.
Next Steps
We have since written to the CCMA requesting that they withdraw the Local Connection Protocol from circulation and remind local authorities of their obligations under the 1988 Act, to ensure consistency and to ensure that marginalised and vulnerable cohorts have access to the vital emergency supports to which they are entitled.
How can we help you?
Please contact us for free legal advice.
We offer free legal advice in the areas of homelessness, housing, employment, environmental, social welfare, family and children’s law. Appointments can be booked by phoning 01 847 7804 or visiting our website to book an appointment online.
Disclaimer
The information in this document is not intended to provide, and does not constitute, legal or any other advice on any particular matter, and is provided for general information purposes only.
The authors give no guarantees or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up-to-date nature of the information provided in this guide and do not accept any liability arising from any errors or omissions.
If you are experiencing homelessness or housing problems and need legal advice, please contact Community Law & Mediation on 01 847 7804 or visit our website to book an appointment here.
Calling all citizens, residents’ associations, community and environmental groups!
Join us to find out more about how changes to judicial review will impact you!
Community Law & Mediation invites you to an online Town Hall meeting on the Planning and Development Bill 2023 on Tuesday 6th February 7.30-8.30pm.
Hear from legal experts, resident’s associations and environmental groups on the proposed changes to judicial review (in Part 9 of the Bill), and the impact that they will have on how citizens, residents’ associations, community and environmental groups engage with the planning system and challenge planning decisions which affect their communities and the environment.
The Bill is currently progressing through the Oireachtas, with Committee Stage expected to commence in February.
We hope you can attend, and we look forward to hearing your views!
Agenda
Introduction: What is Part 9 of the Planning and Development Bill, and how does it impact you? Gavin Elliott, Environmental Justice Lawyer at Community Law & Mediation.
Residents’ associations and environmental groups: Why the judicial review process is important, experiences of taking a judicial review, and the impact of the proposed changes: Robin Mandal, Chairperson of the Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance. Mary O’Leary, Chairperson of Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment.
Conclusion: A call to action Rose Wall, CEO of Community Law & Mediation.
Community Law & Mediation is an independent community law centre and charity, working since 1975 with communities impacted by social exclusion, disadvantage and inequality, through the provision of free legal, mediation and education services.
In 2021, we opened the Centre for Environmental Justice, which works to ensure climate change and other environmental harms do not disproportionately affect those who have contributed least to the problem, and that the State’s response to environmental challenges addresses inequality and protects the rights of present and future generations.
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.
Why recognition of the right to adequate housing and appropriate shelter in the Irish constitution is vital
The Housing Commission will shortly bring forward proposals on the wording for a referendum on housing. This follows a commitment in the Programme for Government and the Housing for All plan to hold a referendum on housing.
A public consultation on the proposed wording closed for submissions on 2nd September. Community Law & Mediation’s submission, endorsed by Ballymun Community Law Centre, the Clare Public Participation Network, Clondalkin Traveller Development Group, Environmental Justice Network Ireland, Friends of the Earth Ireland, the Galway Traveller Movement, Immigrant Council of Ireland, the Irish Refugee Council, the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, NASC, Novas, Pavee Point, Robert Emmet CDP, the Society of St Vincent de Paul and Treoir can be read in full here.
Why a referendum? And why a right to housing?
There has been a lot of debate over the merits of introducing such an amendment to our constitution and what such a change could achieve in reality. The Home for Good coalition sets out a number of reasons why constitutional change is an essential underpinning for any successful programme to tackle our housing and homelessness crisis.
Experiences of housing problems and homelessness
At our community law centres, we work with lower income households, people who are homeless or at risk of being made homeless, members of the Traveller community, individuals fleeing domestic violence and many others in our society who are vulnerable or marginalised. Housing related queries constitute a high proportion of the queries we receive and many of these are of an acute and urgent nature.
We frequently advocate on behalf of clients, some with young families, who have been refused access to emergency accommodation. We also assist people whose are living without heating or running water and with poor sanitation – a breach of their basic human rights. Many of our clients are on waiting lists, some as long as 15 years, to access adequate social housing. In the interim and due to a shortage of suitable private rental homes, they have no option but to stay in emergency accommodation. On average, one in ten of the individuals we meet at our legal advice clinics, are at risk of being made homeless.
These issues persist year-on-year.
Why we need a referendum
Urgent action is needed to effectively tackle the State’s housing crisis and re-shape housing policy. The explicit recognition of a standalone right to housing in the Irish constitution is a fundamental step towards achieving this.
A referendum on housing is vital for the following reasons:
There is currently no express right to housing or shelter in the Irish constitution.
Removal of a barrier to reform: The way in which the Irish constitution is currently framed, in solely providing for the protection of private property rights, creates a barrier to the consideration and development of progressive housing policies.
Recognition of a basic human right: Housing is a fundamental human right and has been recognised as such in international law.
International standards: Ireland is already bound by housing rights under international law.
Environmental Justice: Protecting citizens’ right to adequate housing and appropriate shelter within the constitution is fundamental to a fair and inclusive transition.
Proposed wording:
The wording for a standalone right to housing could take the following form:
“Housing
Article 43A
1 The State recognises, and shall vindicate through legislative and other measures within its available resources, the right of all persons to adequate housing.
2 The State recognises, and shall guarantee in its laws as far as practicable, the right of every person to appropriate shelter, conducive to that person’s health and well-being needs.”
The Housing Commission must have regard to the following policy considerations when deciding on the proposed wording:
The right to adequate housing
The right to adequate housing includes a number of freedoms and entitlements, including protection against forced evictions, security of tenure, and equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing. Furthermore, the following conditions must be met in order for housing to be considered adequate:
Security of tenure; availability of services; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy.
The right to shelter
Any right to adequate housing should also include a minimum floor of protection in order to protect homeless individuals and those at risk of being made homeless. At present, there is no statutory obligation on the State to provide homeless people with emergency accommodation.
The framework governing the assessment and treatment of people who present to local authorities as homeless needs urgent reform. This reform must be grounded in the constitutional protection of a right to shelter.
Socio-economic right
We are calling for an express socio-economic right to be inserted into the constitution.
Environmental Justice
The right to adequate housing is essential to environmental justice in the following ways:
A just and inclusive transition
The right to adequate housing and appropriate shelter is essential to a just and inclusive transition. Those without adequate housing and appropriate shelter are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events, despite having contributed the least to climate change.
Meeting our legally binding climate targets
The right to adequate housing and appropriate shelter is essential to meeting Ireland’s legally binding emission reduction targets enshrined in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Ireland’s residential sector currently contributes to climate change; almost half (48%) of Ireland’s housing stock is energy inefficient,[1] with poorly insulated homes locked into fossil fuel dependence.
Ireland must urgently increase the ambition of its climate action while safeguarding housing and shelter rights. This could provide an opportunity to deliver climate and housing justice in tandem.
The right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment
Finally, the right to adequate housing and appropriate shelter “conducive to that person’s health and well-being needs” is inherently connected to the right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment, recognised by the United Nations (UN) in July 2022.
Shaping Ireland’s Housing Policy
The insertion of a right to housing could have widespread implications in shaping Ireland’s housing policy going forward. It could, for example, prevent homelessness, ensure minimum standards of housing, protect security of tenure, and lead to a just and inclusive transition to a completely decarbonised economy and society, among other effects.
A robust right to housing, which includes a right to shelter, would enhance the rights of all people of all circumstances. Crucially, it would provide meaningful minimum floor of protection to those must vulnerable and marginalised in society.
Read our submission to the public consultation on a referendum on housing in full here.
How can we help you?
If you are experiencing a housing or environmental problem, or would like to find out more about our services, please contact us on 01 847 7804 / 061 536 100 or click here for further information.
