Recognising that climate change is not only an environmental issue, but also a housing, health, equality, and ultimately a human rights issue, Community Law & Mediation established Ireland’s first and only Centre for Environmental Justice in 2021.
The Centre sits within Community Law & Mediation’s community-based model. Since its establishment, the work of the Centre has evolved into a busy and growing annual programme of legal advice clinics, policy and casework, alongside community-focused talks and webinars to raise awareness of environmental rights.
Below, you can read a brief 5-year snapshot of all of our work to date.
We have written to the Minister for Housing, the Oireachtas Housing Committee and other stakeholders to raise serious concerns about the Housing and Residential (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026.
The Bill, as currently drafted, will cause a myriad of practical and legal consequences, including a direct increase in homelessness and rooflessness.
There is growing recognition internationally that access to justice is essential for the protection of the rights of children. It is especially important for protection from discrimination, violence, abuse, and exploitation, and for ensuring children’s best interests in all actions involving or having an impact on them. Children living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to the denial of their rights.
Community Law & Mediation (CLM) commissioned children’s law expert Róisín Webb to assess the need for a specialised legal service for children and the role it could play in augmenting existing work to advance the rights of children in Ireland. Thank you to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland for making this work possible.
Read or download the overview and the report in full below.
Our children’s law service
CLM offers free legal advice clinics for children and young people and the adults who support them on disability rights, problems at school like suspension or expulsion, discrimination, housing issues, LGBTI+ rights, environmental rights and more. It partners with youth organisations such as EPIC (Empowering People in Care) and Crosscare to ensure its service reaches those who need it most. It also provides training for children and young people, families and advocates/support workers on legal rights. To book an appointment, phone 01 847 7804 or submit this booking form.
Ireland, like all countries, is facing the interrelated crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. While Ireland has a wide-ranging environmental governance regime, implementation and enforcement issues continue to undermine the effectiveness of its environmental laws and policies.
Environmental rights are a potentially valuable tool to address this issue and to enhance environmental ambitions within policy and legislation. Such rights are gradually increasing in presence internationally including within treaties, resolutions and national constitutions.
Currently in Ireland, there are no express constitutional environmental rights. In April 2023, the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommended that a referendum be held on inserting environmental human rights and Rights of Nature into the Constitution.
This report, ‘Constitutionalising Environmental Rights – Practical Insights into the Irish Context‘ examines if, and how, Ireland should constitutionalise environmental rights. The project was undertaken by Dr Orla Kelleher and Dr Mary Dobbs of the School of Law and Criminology in Maynooth University and commissioned by Community Law & Mediation with funding from Lifes2Good Foundation and support from Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute.
With the potential of environmental rights to address the triple planetary crisis a live issue, the urgency of which is only likely to grow, the report provides valuable insights into constitutionalising environmental rights in Ireland and contains recommendations for policymakers, legislators, civil society and academia.
Are harmful environmental issues impacting the health and safety of you, your home or community?
As the person experiencing an environmental harm, you are best placed to diagnose the issue.
Pollution in the environment or climate-related events can have an impact on our health. Health impacts of environmental stressors include cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses, and cancers. In contrast, living in a safe and healthy home and having access to green spaces contributes to our physical and mental wellbeing.
Community Law & Mediation, your local community law centre, is running a free information and advice clinic on how to address environmental harms and protect biodiversity.
This clinic is for your concerns about:
The quality of the air you breathe inside your home and outdoors
Water quality in your home
Water pollution in your local area (rivers, lakes, groundwater, and the coast)
Biodiversity loss in your local area and access to green space
Illegal dumping
The impacts of climate change affecting you and your community
Our new Health, Home and Your Environment free information and advice clinic aims to empower you with the information needed to act for a just solution that ensures the health of you, your home, and your community.
Community Law & Mediation is celebrating its 50th anniversary!
Established by FLAC in 1975 as the Coolock Community Law Centre, it was modelled on the American neighbourhood law centre and its purpose initially was to serve as a blueprint for how a community model of civil legal aid could be rolled out.
Over the past five decades, CLM has evolved from a neighbourhood law centre to a national service with physical locations in Coolock and Limerick and new areas of work in mediation, environmental justice and children’s law.
Check out this video highlighting CLM’s 50-year journey, impact, and key milestones and our strategic vision for the future.
We kicked off our 50th anniversary celebrations on 26th February with an event at City Hall. The event featured an expert panel of speakers including Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Social justice and human rights campaigner; Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; and climate justice lawyer Tessa Khan; and Rose Wall, outgoing CEO of Community Law & Mediation.
The timely and inspiring discussion on confronting the human rights challenges of today and harnessing the desire for fairness and justice within our communities was moderated by author and journalist Dearbhail McDonald.
On January 23rd, 2025, Community Law & Mediation’s Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) held a webinar to outline Ireland’s scientific and legal responsibilities on climate change, upcoming climate cases, and what the next Government must do to close the emissions gap.
The expert panel of speakers included:
– Professor Kevin Anderson , Climate Scientist and Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester: Kevin has been consistent in engaging widely across all tiers of government (UK and EU) on issues ranging from climate modelling (IAMs), carbon budgets and ‘negative emission technologies’. His analysis previously contributed to the framing of the UK’s Climate Change Act and the development of national carbon budgets.
Kevin spoke about the gap between where we are, and where we need to be, to remain within 1.5°.
– Dr. Andrew Jackson , Assistant Professor in Planning and Environmental Law at University College Dublin: Andrew is an environmental and planning lawyer, with broad interests in these fields at international, EU and Irish levels. He has been involved in public interest environmental and planning litigation for many years, including before the Irish, English and EU courts.
Andrew spoke about Ireland’s legal obligations to remain within 1.5°, as well as upcoming climate cases.
– Oisín Coghlan , CEO of Friends of the Earth: Oisín is the CEO of Friends of the Earth Ireland, the Irish member of the world’s largest network of grassroots environmental organisations with over 2 million supporters in 75 countries. He leads their work to ensure that legal framework is translated into the transformative action required to curb climate chaos.
Oisín spoke about what these scientific and legal obligations for 1.5° mean for Ireland’s new government.
– Rose Wall , CEO of Community Law & Mediation: Rose has been the CEO of Community Law & Mediation since 2013. In 2021, Rose set up CLM’s (and Ireland’s first) Centre for Environmental Justice, which works to ensure that marginalised groups are not disproportionately impacted by climate change or other environmental harms, and that environmental measures and climate action protect and build equality and social justice.
Rose chaired the event, and spoke about why CLM is engaging in the climate justice space, and bringing climate cases.
As COP29 gets underway, the Centre for Environmental Justice is calling for Ireland to lead by example on the global stage by meeting its legally binding climate responsibilities at home.
“Ireland has a proven track record of leading and building consensus during the annual COP negotiations and we welcome the appointment of Eamon Ryan as one of the EU’s lead negotiators on climate finance this year’s conference.
However, we also require leadership through tangible actions on the ground. Ireland’s emissions are not decreasing rapidly enough to stay within the confines of the State’s own legally binding 2025 and 2030 carbon budgets and successive Climate Action Plans have fallen short on implementation. The cost of failing to meet these obligations could exceed €8 billion for the period up to 2030.
As a developed country with a strong capacity to transition towards a climate-neutral economy, Ireland has a responsibility to demonstrate global leadership on climate action. The new Government, when it is appointed, has a legal and ethical duty to ensure the State adheres to its obligations on climate change, to protect children, citizens and communities from the most dangerous impacts of the climate crisis.”
The community law centre is currently involved in two significant legal challenges of Ireland’s record on climate action and it is also supporting NGOs Climate Action Network Europe and Global Legal Action Network in a climate case against the European Commission which stands to be the first in which the European Court of Justice scrutinises the adequacy of the EU’s climate targets.
Ireland’s record on emissions reductions
Despite being among the smallest countries in the European Union, Ireland ranks second highest in emissions per capita. Ireland’s emissions are not decreasing rapidly enough to stay within the confines of the State’s own legally binding 2025 and 2030 carbon budgets. The latest projections of the EPA (May 2024) forecast a significant overshoot of between 17 and 27 per cent of the first two carbon budgets (2021-2030). Any overshoot of the first five-year budget must be carried forward to reduce the following five-year budget.
Successive Climate Action Plans have fallen short of implementation. As per the Government’s progress report on CAP23, 35% of the proposed actions were left unaccomplished. Notwithstanding this shortfall, CAP24 fails to outline strategies for compensating for these implementation gaps or ensuring compliance with the carbon budgets.
The applicants in this case, Community Law & Mediation, a grandfather, a youth climate activist, and a child, seek a declaration from the Court that the Government is not complying with what it has set out in its own law, the Climate and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (as amended).
We argue that the Climate Action Plan 2024 (CAP24), the instrument by which the Government sets out the roadmap for meeting Ireland’s legally binding carbon budget, fails to meet the legal standards set by the Oireachtas and so undermines the State’s efforts at effective climate action in line with Ireland’s legal obligations.
We believe CAP24 is not in compliance with the first carbon budget or the carbon budget programme and was prepared, submitted and approved in breach of the 2015 Act. In addition, we argue that CAP24 violates the fundamental rights of the three individual applicants, marginalised groups that CLM works with, and future generations, as protected by the Constitution of Ireland 1937, the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.
CLM is taking this case on behalf of low income and marginalised communities that that we work with, and younger and future generations, all of whom stand to be most impacted by climate change but have least opportunity to protect or vindicate their rights.
This case was granted leave to proceed by the High Court on 9th September 2024, and we currently await a hearing date.
A separate challenge by Friends of the Irish Environment, supported by CLM, of the Climate Action Plan 2023, specifically the failure by the Government to show with a sufficient level of specificity that the Climate Action Plan and its Annex of Actions will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with Ireland’s legally binding carbon budget. The hearing date for this case is 28th January 2025.
CLM is also supporting NGOs Climate Action Network Europe and Global Legal Action Network in a climate case against the European Commission which stands to be the first in which the European Court of Justice scrutinises the adequacy of the EU’s climate targets. The aim of this case, which was announced on 27th August 2024, is to increase the EU’s climate ambition by 2030, by requiring the Commission to revise Member States’ annual emissions allocations under the Effort Sharing Regulation.
Why is climate litigation important?
Climate litigation is a critical tool in enforcing and enhancing the climate obligations of governments, public and private organisations in the face of failure to meet emissions reductions targets and the increasingly visible impacts of climate change.
In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognised the role of litigation in affecting “the outcome and ambition of climate governance”.
The last decade has seen a surge in climate litigation worldwide as a growing number of communities take action to secure their human rights and hold governments, fossil fuel companies and others accountable.
About Community Law & Mediation and our Centre of Environmental Justice
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 advice, advocacy, mediation and education services.
In 2021, CLM established the Centre for Environmental Justice which works to ensure that no person or community is disproportionately impacted by climate change or other environmental harms, and that environmental measures and climate action protect and build equality and social justice. CLM also provides a specialist children’s law service to support young people and their families.
Appointments for our free legal advice clinics on environmental and/or children’s rights can be booked by contacting 01 847 7804 or filling in the clinic form here.
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.
CLM is seeking tender proposals from suitably qualified and experienced researchers to manage and deliver research into the Unmet Mediation Need in Ireland.
Deadline for submission of tenders: 21st October 2024 @ 5pm
Background information
CLM’s Mediation Service was established in 2004 to address the need in the community for an alternative dispute resolution process to the legal system, which can be expensive, protracted, and difficult to access.
CLM’s Mediation Service aims to deal positively with conflict in the community by empowering community members and groups to resolve conflict at the earliest point possible in a dispute, through the:
Creation of awareness of mediation as a dispute resolution process.
Development of skills within the community in conflict resolution; and
Provision of an accessible, high-quality dispute resolution service to everyone in the community, independent of their means.
CLM also offers Conflict Coaching, a structured, one to one service which aims to help parties develop the necessary skills to effectively engage in the mediation process.
Many of CLM’s Mediation Service clients are from disadvantaged communities, who, if embroiled in conflict and dispute have additional barriers to overcome if they are to participate in and be part of an inclusive society.
Research Aims & Objectives
As social problems become more complex, innovative solutions will be found through collaborative and multi-disciplinary work. There will be greater scope for alternatives to litigation in which a community mediation service could play an important role. In this context and in the context of low public awareness around mediation and the situations it can assist with, CLM has received funding from the Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission (IHREC) to produce qualitative and quantitative research on unmet mediation need of communities who because of economic, social or other disadvantage are unable to access legal or mediation services.
The objectives of the Research will include:
A. Explore the meaning of mediation need.
B. Explore current and future mediation need in relation to the communities CLM serves through engagement with affected rights-holders/communities.
Individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless;
‘New Communities’ and those of a migrant background;
Local and national environmental groups.
C. Map out what services already exist to meet that need and where the gaps in service provision are;
D. Map out changes expected to current service provision by external factors and policies;
E. Examine the mediation landscape in other jurisdictions such as the UK and Northern Ireland;
F. Provide evidence and make recommendations on best practice for meeting unmet mediation need.
Research Methodology
The research will include both qualitative and quantitative methodologies that yield data on the extent of unmet mediation need in relation to the communities CLM serves and recommendations on meeting that need.
This will include interviews, co-designed questionnaires, and focus groups with key stakeholders. Stakeholders are to be identified and agreed but it is envisaged that they will include individuals from target communities, community & voluntary groups, mediators & mediation groups, and relevant state agencies.
It is envisaged that the project will include the establishment of an advisory group involving key stakeholders. This will ensure that the research process is participatory, inclusive, and respectful of diverse perspectives.
Dissemination
It is anticipated that the research and its findings will be launched at an event in September 2025, targeting decision makers, public representatives, media and other key stakeholders involved in the Project. This event will be supported by a programme of communications and stakeholder engagement.
Project Timeline
The Project will commence immediately upon appointment and the final report will be completed by August 2025. Regular progress report meetings will be held over the project period.
Budget & Contract
The research budget is €11,000, inclusive of VAT, together with a small budget for travel & subsistence. Contract for Services to be drawn up and agreed upon appointment.
Key requirements
We will require an outline of the following from the tenderer:
Relevant research experience and third level qualifications;
Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research approaches and methodologies;
Track record in undertaking similar work;
A proposal and plan for the methodological approach to the research which demonstrates an understanding of the objectives of the work and detailing capacity to carry out the work within the agreed timescale;
An estimate of the number of days work involved and an overall project costing, in euro and including VAT. CLM will not be responsible for any errors on the calculations of costs provided in response to this invitation to tender;
Evaluation of tenders will be based on the following award criteria:
Marks
Details about the tenderer and their previous experience
40
Proposal and plan for the work
40
Breakdown of costs
20
The award will be based on the responses to this tender, which in the opinion of CLM’s best demonstrates the respondent’s capacity to deliver the service required.
General tendering information, terms, and conditions
Currency
The currency to be used in this Tender is Euro.
Costs
CLM will not be liable in respect of any costs incurred by any tenderer in the preparation of tenders in response to this invitation to tender or any associated cost.
Tax clearance
The successful tenderer must be in possession of a valid tax clearance certificate for duration of the contract. Such a valid tax-free certificate from the Irish Revenue Commissioners must be produced by a successful tenderer before execution of the contract. A valid tax-free certificate means a tax clearance certificate issued by the Irish Revenue Commissioners, and tenderers not resident in Ireland must make application to the Irish Revenue Commissioners for such a certificate if their tender is to be considered.
Company registration
The successful tenderer, if a company, registered and/or carrying on business in Ireland, must be in compliance with all obligations and requirements under the companies Acts 1963 to 2012, including the filing of up-to-date annual returns and a certificate to this effect must be provided by an officer of the tenderer with the tender documentation.
False or misleading information
Tenderers who intentionally or carelessly supply false or misleading information will be disqualified from this tendering procedure on the discovery of such information.
Requirements of invitation to tender
Tenders not conforming to the requirements of this invitation to tender will not be considered and will be returned to the tenderer.
Subject to contract
This invitation to tender is not intended to, and does not, create or evidence any legal or binding relationship, obligation or commitment of any nature between CLM and any tenderer. No such legally binding obligation or commitment shall come into being unless and until a formal legal contract is duly executed and delivered by CLM and the successful tenderer.
Disclaimer
This document is for information only and does not constitute, and shall not be interpreted as, an offer for sale, prospectus, or the basis of a contract. Candidates are recommended to read the document thoroughly. CLM reserves the right to discontinue the procurement process at any time. No liability will be accepted for candidates’ costs in connection with the procurement procedure, irrespective of the outcome, whether or not the procedure is cancelled or postponed.
