In July of this year, the Government announced that, as part of the stimulus package, there would be an increase in the amount of relief that first time buyers may obtain on purchasing or self-building a newly constructed dwelling house under the Help to Buy Scheme. Under this scheme, the maximum relief available has been [...]
Back to School (and to Court)
While it is back to school time, it is also back to court time this month. Usually, the superior courts do not sit in August and September, but this year the High Court has resumed sitting from 1 September and this is a very positive development. As well as sitting this month, the High Court [...]
We Have Statements of Truth!
The statements of truth are available for use in law in Ireland. The Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 was signed into law by the President on 6 August. On 15 August the Minister signed the relevant Commencement Order, which you can see here. Statements of truth are contained in Part 3 of the Act, [...]
Court of Appeal Decision Confirms Importance of Book of Quantum in Assessing Personal Injury Claims
The Court of Appeal decision in Emma McKeown v. Alan Crosby and Mary Vocella [2020] IECA 242 is one that all personal injuries claimants and their advisors should study carefully. You can see a copy of the full text of the decision here. At its most straightforward, the case involved a claim for personal injuries [...]
The “Help to Buy Scheme’ Explained
If you or anyone you know is a first-time buyer who is looking to get on the property ladder they should be aware that there was a very important announcement in the July stimulus package announced by the Government which increased the amount of relief that first-time buyers may obtain on purchasing or self-building a [...]
Derry – In Memory of John Hume
We were on staycation recently and visited family in North East Antrim and Donegal. (I know, I know, strictly speaking staycation means you don't leave your home, but that's what everyone's calling it this year in the weird world that the pandemic has dropped us into, so the pedants will just have to suck it [...]
Statements of Truth In Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Claims
Statements of Truth Have Been Introduced But Will Not Yet Be Immediately Available for Use In Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Claims Back in May we started a campaign to replace affidavits sworn on oath with a more modern secular system of statements of truth. You can see more detail on the background to this [...]
A big decision from the European Court of Justice
A major decision was reached last week by the European Court of Justice in what has become known as the Schrems II case and I thought you might be interested in a quick outline of its significance for you. There is a lot background and context to the case but, in short, on Thursday the [...]
Statements of Truth Need to be a Top Priority
Irrespective of the politics, I have to say that I am delighted to see that we now have a functioning government. The alternative was just too awful to contemplate... You may have noticed that a commitment to introduce Statements of Truth (to replace affidavits sworn on oath) was included in the Programme for Government. That's [...]
Webinars For Solicitors; A Pleasant Surprise from the Crisis
When the Covid-19 crisis first broke, a colleague of mine in Wexford, Martin Lawlor, and myself had the idea to run a webinar for fellow solicitors on coping with the challenges of practising law in the crisis. We were pretty blown away by the fact that we had over 600 solicitors register for our first [...]
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, who could be against that? At times concepts like these can seem like motherhood and apple pie, universally good and admired but hardly controversial. Yet in weeks like those we have been through recently, we are reminded how easy it is for these things that are fundamental to human dignity to [...]
Opening The Doors Again
Sometimes it seems like an eternity since we all suddenly went into lockdown back in March… On the one hand, time felt like it was standing still for much of it as we just got-by day-to-day, but on the other hand, so much has changed so utterly and so rapidly since this all started. But, [...]
