The governing body over Irish Solicitors, the Law Society have expressed dismay as follows :-
“The Law Society views with dismay both the existence and the recent public expressions of deep tensions between the Government and the judiciary. It is clear from these public comments that the mutual respect that should always characterise the relationship between the Government and the judiciary is under great strain. This strain has the potential to cause major damage to the democratic system in Ireland and to the country’s reputation abroad. It must be resolved without delay.
Although the Society is not coming out in support of either the Government or the judiciary in this dispute, it does share what it knows to be sincerely held concerns in the judiciary about serious under-resourcing of the courts system and about the proposed appointment of specialised judges of the Circuit Court through an unprecedented and restricted recruitment process. On both of these issues, the Society has written to express its concerns to the Minister for Justice, Equality & Defence in recent weeks.
Both the Government and the judiciary, in the Society’s view, have an obligation to establish, or re-establish, channels of communication and use them to engage constructively, respectfully and privately in returning their relationship very quickly to an even keel.”
– a news brief by Kilkenny Legal firm Holland Condon
