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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Synthesis Report. This report provides an up-to-date understanding of climate change, its impacts, future risks and options for addressing it.
The IPCC report distils more than 10,000 pages of climate science from work carried out between 2018 and 2022.
It reflects an undeniable scientific consensus about the urgency of the climate crisis, its primary causes, and the catastrophic and irreversible harm that will occur if warming surpasses 1.5°C.
This report must be met with action, not words.
The window to remain within 1.5C is rapidly narrowing
Two years into Ireland’s first legally-binding carbon budget (2021-2025), Ireland’s emissions remain among the highest in the EU. Worryingly, the Annex of Actions to Ireland’s 2023 Climate Action Plan fails to clarify what level of emissions reductions the Plan will achieve in 2023 and beyond.
Further delay on transformative climate action risks an abrupt, forceful, and disorderly transition.
So, we call on the Government to:
Clarify whether the Climate Action Plan 2023 and Annex of Actions comply with Ireland’s 2021-2025 legally-binding carbon budget.
Accelerate the full implementation of the Climate Action Plan 2023.
Publish the Long-Term Climate Action Strategy, which is now more than three years overdue to the European Commission.
“Rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes” must be socially just and protect and promote human rights
The IPCC report is clear: our house is on fire. There is no safe level of global warming. The impacts of the climate crisis at just over 1°C have already been devastating, particularly within communities that have contributed least to the problem.[1]
In Ireland, responsibility for emissions is deeply uneven. The top 10% of the population contributed about a third of Ireland’s cumulative carbon emissions between 1990 and 2015. The cost of climate mitigation and adaptation measures must not fall on those who are least responsible.
It is essential that Ireland’s transition is underpinned by the principles of a Just Transition and the protection and promotion of human rights.
We call on the Government to:
Poverty-proof and equality-proof all climate policies to ensure that the cost of climate mitigation and adaptation measures do not fall on marginalised and vulnerable groups
Scale up the ambition of Ireland’s National Retrofit Plan to include all social housing and groups most at risk of energy poverty. Deliver free and reliable public transport across Ireland.
Halt new fossil fuel infrastructure, withdraw existing licenses from fossil fuel companies, and introduce a moratorium on new data centres.
Ensure a Just Transition by accelerating the establishment of a Just Transition Commission and embed the Just Transition guidelines across all government.
Above all, the IPCC report clearly demonstrates that solutions to the climate crisis are economically and technologically feasible. Amidst an abundance of alarming information and scientific warnings, what is needed is political will to mobilise Ireland’s just transition to a fossil-free future.
Find out more about CLM’s Centre for Environmental Justice and how we can help you here.
Finding out about your environmental rights and how you can access information on the environment can be daunting. At Community Law & Mediation, we want to give you the tools to know your environmental rights and act upon them.
The right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being.
Access to Information on the Environment (AIE)
The access to information on the environment (AIE) regulations give citizens the right to access environmental information held by, or for, public authorities.
What are my environmental rights?
Your environmental rights are set out in the Aarhus Convention.
The Aarhus Convention is an international agreement which was established by the United Nations Economic Commission in 1998, and it entered into law in Ireland in 2012.
This law protects: “The right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being.”
Your right to “live in an environment adequate to your health and well-being” is protected by three environmental rights:
Right of Access to Information – This is your right to know.
Right of Access to Public Participation – This is your right to have your say.
Right of Access to Justice – Your right to access legal remedy if your rights are infringed.
What type of environmental information can you access through the Aarhus Convention?
You can access a wide variety of environmental information through the Aarhus Convention. The way in which you can access information is through making an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request.
You are able to request information on the following environmental issues:
Environmental Issue
Meaning
Air Quality / Air Pollution
The degree to which the air in a particular place is pollution-free.
Noise Level Control / Noise Pollution
Unwanted or disturbing sound in the environment that affects the health and well-being of humans and other living organisms.
Soil Quality
A measure of the condition of soil relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose.
Water Quality
The condition of the water, including chemical, physical, and biological characteristics, usually with respect to its suitability for a particular purpose such as drinking or swimming.
Water Allocation
The specific volume of water allocated to water access entitlements in a given water year or allocated as specified within a water resource plan.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs)
The emission into the earth’s atmosphere of any of various gases, especially carbon dioxide, that contribute to the planet warming.
Land Use
Involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods.
Waste Management
The strategy used to dispose, reduce, reuse, and prevent waste. Possible waste disposal methods are recycling, composting, incineration, landfills, bioremediation, waste to energy, and waste minimization.
Energy Production or Distribution
The total production / distribution of primary energy by all energy producing enterprises in the country in a given period of time.
Information on Environmental Policies / Measures Taken
Any measure by a government or corporation or other public or private organisation regarding the effects of human activities on the environment, particularly those measures that are designed to prevent or reduce harmful effects of human activities on ecosystems.
Information on Human Health & Safety
The physical health or safety of individual human beings in context of our environment.
You can access written, visual, aural, electronic or any other materials, as long as it relates to the environment.
How to request access to information on the environment?
There are six steps you can take when submitting an AIE request:
Consider what you want and why you really want it:
Before submitting your AIE request, ensure that you know what type of information you want to receive in your request. It is also good to back this up with why you want this information. Information you can request includes, meeting minutes, briefing papers, audits, data and inspection reports.
Know who to target:
You must select individuals to direct your request to. You can consider multiple sources for this, including Departments, Local Authorities, Semi State, State-Bodies and Agencies.
Key pieces of information to include in your AIE request:
There are several key pieces of information you should always include in your AIE request. You should always provide your name and contact details and it is important to state that you are making an AIE request, as opposed to Freedom of Information (FoI) request. You will always want to be specific about the information you want to receive. It is ideal to specify the format – typically electronic is best. You should state that your request be dealt with “as soon as possible”. You should request an acknowledgement letter.
Keep note of the date you made your request:
It is recommended that you make a spreadsheet to manage your AIE requests. This is helpful for when you are making multiple requests, have multiple targets and multiple deadlines. It is key that you record the dates in which you sent your AIE request. You can then estimate the due date for your request – which should be 4 weeks into the future. It is good to also keep note of the officer handling your request and include a notes section to update with the progress of your request.
Ensure you follow up on your requests:
It is good to stay in contact with the officer dealing with your request. This is especially positive if you may need to refine your AIE request. Make sure to do this all in writing so that you have a paper trail of all communication. Before your request due date, you can follow up with the officer dealing with your request. Create a timeline of events and actions, this can be inputted into your spreadsheet.
What to expect on your AIE Request deadline day:
You should be provided with a letter outlining the decision making process, a schedule of all records (released or not), several possible outcomes (all/ some documents released, documents redacted, additional month required due to complexity, refusal of AIE request). If you do not receive a response within four weeks, this could be due to a genuine delay or that your request has been refused.
Does it cost money to access environmental information?
There is no fee to make an AIE request. However, the regulations do allow a public authority to charge a reasonable fee for the cost of supplying the environmental information if the cost exceeds €100.
It is recommended to be (1) detailed in your request and (2) to request that the information is provided via electronic copy to help save costs.
Can my Access to Information on the Environment request be refused?
A public authority can refuse an AIE request. They may also only allow a partial release of information – which means only some of the information is permitted to be shared.
If you are refused information, you must be given a reason for the refusal. You can appeal to the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information and ultimately to the courts if refused information. If you appeal a case, you don’t have to pay for the cost of the other side if you are unsuccessful.
AIE request template
[Address of authority]
Dear Sir/Madam,
Under the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 (SI 133 of 2007, as amended) (the AIE Regulations) and Directive 2003/4/EC (the AIE Directive), I am seeking the following records:
[Whatever you are looking for goes here: Any documents (including but not limited to correspondence (letters, e-mails, etc.), briefings, reports, notes of telephone conversations, and notes of meetings) relating to ______.]
I would prefer to receive this information electronically, that these documents are provided in their original format, along with a schedule of documents.
Yours Faithfully,
[Your Name]
How does Community Law & Mediation support your environmental rights?
Community Law & Mediation is an independent community law centre providing free legal advice, advocacy, mediation and education services. In 2021, we set up a dedicated Centre for Environmental Justice offering free legal advice, community education, and law reform services in the area of environmental justice.
We run monthly clinics helping members of the public with environmental issues such as health concerns arising from air or water pollution, illegal dumping or lack of access to clean water. We deliver training to organisations, community groups, and activists. At a broader level, we seek to advance legislative and policy change through strategic casework and law reform.
Support with environmental justice:
If you are experiencing environmental justice issues and want more legal advice, please contact Community Law and Mediation:
This blog is the first of our three-part Environmental Rights blog series. Our next blog about public participation, will be available to read next week.
In October, we ran a three-part Environmental Rights webinar series. To watch back on our Environmental Rights Webinar Series 2022, click here.
