Caoilfhionn (Ciarán) Gallagher
speaker
117 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 26 Jul
Caoilfhionn (Ciarán) Gallagher’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.
Appearances
But I thought there were some very important stories buried in the later pages about this.
And one I wanted to particularly highlight is Gerard Colloran again in the Irish Mail on Sunday has an excellent piece talking about how
While much of the characterisation presents this as being a kind of plucky minister against fat cat lawyers or criminals, in fact, in reality, this is having a devastating impact on some people who are victims of the criminal justice system and people who are defendants who may be very, very vulnerable.
So he highlights, for example, the fact that the courts have really ground to a standstill.
You've got a growing number of people, including even a child, already charged with murder in cases where they didn't have the benefit of legal advice.
And he highlights importantly that, and here's what he says, it shouldn't be lost on Big Jim and others, that the fight he picked with solicitors continues to escalate in a week in which the Court of Appeal declared that Oscar Branagh's conviction almost 50 years ago for the Salons train robbery was a miscarriage of justice.
And he's highlighted the fact that there's problems coming down the line with solicitors
the risk of miscarriages of justice in relation to this.
He does also highlight very importantly, and you see this forgotten all the time when you have debates in a whole range of different countries where there's a legal aid fight.
And we saw the same thing happen a number of years ago in the United Kingdom, too, where it was presented as government versus lawyers, you know, and you forget about the people who are really impacted by it.
He gave a very stark example of a woman who broke down in Galway Circuit Court
who was distraught because the sentencing of a person convicted of domestic abuse against her was postponed due to the solicitor's strike.
So there's very, very real impact on defendants, many of whom are very vulnerable and particularly on defendants who are children, who have mental health issues and on victims of crime.
And that's what the focus should be on.
Yeah, Cailin Gellar.
Yeah, and it's worth just flagging that this is one of a number of cases across Europe where very, very similar issues are arising to the one that Cooan has just mentioned.
And something which is also mentioned in the British papers today is a case that's got some attention, where in fact one of the lawyers involved is an Irish national, where the lead counsel, Rajiv Menon KC, who was acting in the case, reminded a jury...
of the jury equity principle, the idea that a jury can actually essentially disregard directions from a judge and vote as a matter of conscience.
And he in fact is himself now the subject of proceedings for contempt of court.
for raising that point in front of the jury.
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