Law Centre

President Michael D. Higgins with the staff of the Law Centre at the official opening, 17 February 2012

We are delighted to confirm that the Irish Refugee Council Independent Law Centre, the legal services section of the Irish Refugee Council, commenced services on 4 November 2011. We are the seventh Independent Law Centre to open in Ireland.

The Law Centre employs two solicitors and two legal officers. Our staff are: Jacqueline Kelly (Managing Solicitor), Rosemary Kingston O’Connell (Senior Solicitor), Nick Henderson (Legal Officer) and Brian Collins (Legal Officer).

Services

The primary aims of the Law Centre are to meet unmet legal need in a strategic manner and to promote and deliver early legal advice and representation to those in the early stages of the asylum process.

Early legal advice:

In response to a clearly identified unmet legal need, a significant number of our cases will involve providing advice to asylum seekers in the early stage of the asylum process, in advance of their interview with ORAC. Applicants who wish to access these services will be able to do so through an outreach clinic and by appointment. For capacity reasons, and to ensure the quality of our services, we will be able to offer this service to a maximum of approximately 100 clients per year.

Referrals from Organisations:

We will also accept referrals from organisations in relation to individuals at various stages of the asylum/refugee process where those cases may be of strategic benefit to asylum seekers in Ireland and/or where an individual is extremely vulnerable and has difficulties in otherwise accessing legal services.

If an organisation wishes to make a referral, they can discuss this with us by contacting us on 01 764 5854 or by email at lawcentre@irishrefugeecouncil.ie. After speaking with us, we may ask referring organisations to complete a Law Centre Referral Form.

Advice Clinics:

The Law Centre also hopes to establish an additional appointment-based legal advice clinic in the coming months which will be based in a Dublin city centre location.

Early legal advice clinic flyer

Policy Work & Capacity Building:

Arising out of our work with individual clients, we will seek to identify issues which affect asylum seekers and refugees. We also hope to support voluntary organisations and practitioners working on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers.