Barristers withdraw services on opening day of Longford Circuit Court sitting
In an escalation of strike action they are expected to again withdraw their services on Monday, July 15 and Wednesday, July 24
A number of Longford Circuit Criminal Court trials did not get underway on Tuesday (July 9), while the Central Criminal Court in Dublin did not sit at all on that date due to a barristers' strike.
Barristers gathered outside Longford courthouse to protest the level of fees paid to criminal practitioners, which they say were cut from between 28 and 60 per cent during the 2008 to 2011 period.
They are expected to again withdraw their services on Monday, July 15 and Wednesday, July 24.
This is an escalation of strike action, after barristers withdrew services in October 2023.
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They maintain the government has failed to honour a commitment it made last year to carry out an independent review of fee rates.
Sara Phelan SC, chair of Council of the Bar of Ireland, said the frustration among criminal barristers was “absolutely palpable”.
“We're here again because in Budget '24, the government committed to engaging with us and reviewing a structure of fees and unfortunately that engagement hasn't yet happened. There's been one meeting, it's far too little, too late and really we need progress on this and need progress fast.”
Sean Guerin SC, chair of the Criminal State Bar Committee, said barristers regretted being out on the steps of courthouses in Dublin, Longford and in 15 other locations around the country.
“We'd much rather be doing the work we do every day, which is prosecuting and defending serious criminal cases,” he said.
“The reason why that's not happening today...is because we're still waiting for what was acknowledged back in June 2018 – that barristers have met the conditions for pay restoration to be finally implemented.”
Mr Guerin said it was important to note barristers are paid on a per case rate. “Until January this year, that rate was the same rate that applied in 2002.
“If we had complete pay restoration in the morning, we'd still have suffered a 15 or 16 per cent pay cut because of inflation. We're not looking for that, we're not looking for a pay rise. We're simply looking for an unwinding of the financial emergency pay cuts.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Barristers Shane Geraghty, Gérard Groarke, Niall Flynn, Ray Groarke, Dara Foynes, Will Fennelly, Eugene Deering, Nessa O'Callahan, Suzanne Dooner and Derek Ryan on the steps of Longford courthouse on Tuesday Picture: Michael Croghan Photography