Tag: access to justice

Social welfare appeals training – May 2026

Posted on by Editor

This online training course, delivered over the course of 1 half-day, will dive into the law relating to social welfare and social welfare appeals.

Topics included in the course include:

  • Introduction to the social welfare legal landscape
  • Overview of the social welfare decision making process
  • Overview of the social welfare review and appeals process, including in the Social Welfare Appeals Office
  • A practical toolkit for pursuing reviews and appeals


The main outcomes will be:

  • A broader understanding of the Irish social welfare law, as well as the mechanisms and procedures of the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
  • Empowerment of individuals to advocate on their own behalf in respect of their social welfare entitlements and their right to appeal.
  • Up-skill other advocacy services and organisations in social welfare law and social welfare appeals mechanism.

Location
This course is a half day course on Zoom from 10am-1pm.

Cost

€95

Dates

7th May 2026 10am-1pm

Booking details

To book in, fill out the registration details below and follow-up with payment via Stripe.

We will be in touch with confirmation of booking and with the relevant Zoom invitation link.

For further enquiries, please contact caseworker@communitylawandmediation.ie.

Your Details

* Mandatory fields

Know Your Rights ZINE WORKSHOP at Community Law & Mediation! 

Posted on by Editor

Our annual Legal Eagles programme 2025 concluded on Thursday 13 November when we welcomed students from Mercy College Coolock to our Northside Dublin office for a zine-making workshop with writer and facilitator Robyn Gill.

Students had the opportunity to reflect on, evaluate, and share what they’ve learned through this year’s programme.  

During the session, students designed their own interactive ‘Zine’ resources about what they learnt. Each of the 10 Zines produced by students were based on the Consent, Sex and the Law lesson with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, or on the Garda Powers (Stop and Searches) lesson with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.   

Below, you can check out an interactive showcase of the student’s Zines, which act as DIY resources that you can download and print for yourself. If you’re interested in printing these resources, or designing your own, check out this short instructional video. 

Consent, Sex and the Law 

Some of the students in attendance designed their Zines around what they learned during their lessons on Consent, Sex and the Law with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.  

The topics they covered included: 

  • What is consent?  
  • Checking in for consent – phrases  
  • Ways to communicate a NO 
  • Ways to communicate a YES  
  • What does the law say? 

Check all of them out below – You can download the Zines to print or read yourself: 

Download PDF
‚

Garda Powers (stop and searches) 

Some of the other students designed their Zines around what they learned during their lessons on Garda Powers (Stop and Searches) with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.   

The topics that they covered included: 

  • When can a Garda Stop & Search me?  
  • A Stop & Search quiz  
  • A list of Stop & Search facts!  
  • Stop & Search do’s and don’ts  
  • Where to go if you feel like you have been mistreated by gardaí?  

Check all of them out below – You can download the Zines to print or read yourself: 

Download PDF
‚

Many thanks to all of the students and staff of Mercy College Coolock that participated in the unforgettable workshop. 

Note: These Zines were prepared by students as part of a learning exercise and do not contain legal advice. 

Community Law & Mediation’s Annual Report 2024

Posted on by Editor

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.

Download PDF
‚

Placing Children’s Rights at the Heart of Housing Reform on World Homeless Day 2025

Posted on by Editor

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:

Download PDF
‚

A Call to Action: Have your say on Part 9 of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 (Judicial Review).

Posted on by Editor

Part 9 of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 relates to proposed changes to the judicial review process, which ensures that statutory bodies such as An Bord Pleanála make decisions in accordance with the law. The process itself is not easy to engage in, and a judicial review application is only successful if there has been a breach of law or process.

If part 9 of the bill is passed in its current form, it will will make it more difficult and costly for citizens, community and environmental groups and residents’ associations to challenge planning decisions which affect their communities and the environment.

It will introduce a requirement that a list of the names and addresses of those who vote in favour of bringing judicial proceedings is submitted in court documents – this can only be designed to produce a chilling effect and scare local groups off potential challenges.  It will also restrict environmental NGOs from taking legal action unless they fulfil arbitrary preconditions, such as being a company with ten or more members. 

Community, environmental and residents’ groups play a vital role in helping make their neighbourhood a better place to live, and should be empowered hold the government to account when they make decisions which aren’t in accordance with the law. 

Are you concerned about the implications of part 9 of the Planning and Development Bill?

  • Below, you can find a useful email template in PDF and Word format that we have created for you to edit accordingly, to send on to the TDs in your constituency or the Minister for Housing. You can also download the template as a word document here.
  • If you have concerns about the bill which are not included in our template, please feel free to add in.
  • Having trouble finding your TDs? Visit here to find the contact details of your local TD
Call-to-Action-2Click here to download our Planning and Development Call to Action Template as a Word Document.
Download PDF
‚
Contact Us