Opinion

Cork solicitor Bill Holohan of Holohan Lane reflects on his recent election to the Law Society Council. Thanks to my colleagues in the legal profession, I have recently elected as a member of the Council of the Law Society of Ireland for the next two years. My first meeting was last Friday. However,

Anne McKernan, head of legal services at the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, considers whether a discrimination case before the courts can really lead to change. The answer is yes – it can do. And almost everyone who successfully resolves their case with our help, whether it’s

Joanne Hyde, employment partner at Eversheds Sutherland, examines a recent Irish court ruling on Sunday work. A recent decision of the High Court in the case of Trinity Leisure Holdings Limited Trading as Trinity City Hotel v Sofia Kolesnik and Natalia Alfimova [2019] IEHC 654 has brought much neede

Kevin Murphy, partner in TLT's Belfast office, looks at how planning law reform could support Northern Ireland's electric vehicle network. Northern Ireland is making great progress in renewable energy generation. But when it comes to electric vehicle (EV) uptake and the infrastructure needed to supp

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates looks at how workplaces can best accommodate women who have miscarried. In the Irish Independent recently, Eilish O’Regan wrote an article where Lisa Finnegan spoke to her about enduring the sadness of two miscarriages

LK Shields consultant Tom Simpson and trainee solicitor Katie Linden consider a recent Supreme Court judgment confirming that non-party funders can be held personally liable for costs. The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the principal shareholder and owner of a construction company is to be

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates responds to reports about a job advertisement published by a UK celebrity chef. When it comes to dysfunctional industries, sometimes what comes out of the restaurant industry is so amazing that you would not believe it actual

In 1937, a story emerged in the newspapers about a girl from Glasgow called Julia Clarke who had been sentenced, in absentia, to one month's imprisonment for “kissing a boyfriend in public”. Ms Clarke and the (notably unnamed) local boy had been seen kissing on church property in Blackro

Barry Walsh, partner and head of employment at Fieldfisher, considers employees' right to accompaniment or representation in internal company processes. A recent piece in the Law Society Gazette reported on how an employee involved a redundancy consultation process in New Zealand brought a clown (th

On 24 March 1661, Florence Newton was committed to prison in Youghal, Co Cork, having been accused of bewitching a young servant girl named Mary Langdon. At Florence’s trial on 11 September 1661, Mary gave evidence that the previous Christmas, Florence had gone to the house of John Pyne, where

The infamous ‘backstop’ is gone, but the new Irish Protocol could lead to the indefinite jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union within the United Kingdom, writes Oliver Garner of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. The new Protocol on Ireland/N

Claire Edgar, partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, considers yesterday's UK Supreme Court decision in a child abduction case. The majority of child abduction cases do not involve strangers. Children, who are caught up in the relationship disputes of their parents, are often removed from the

Dr Anne Smith and Professor Colin Harvey consider the case for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland in our current Brexit-dominated landscape. A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland remains part of the unfinished work of the Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement (the B/GFA). It is still needed, an

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates examines a recent ruling on sexual harassment. In the case of Waterford Institute of Technology and Louise Walsh, the Labour Court has helpfully set out the law in very clear and precise terms.

Large parts of the landmark Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 were commenced by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan through statutory instrument earlier this month. S.I. No. 502/2019 - Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) (No. 2) Order 2019 has come into force as of