Judge warns Mayo court system faces 'huge pressure' in October

Judge Eoin Garavan tells Castlebar jury panel that there is no indication that legal aid dispute will be resolved anytime soon

By Anton McNulty Published 13th Jul 2026, 13:30 BST Judge Eoin Garavan commented that legal aid dispute will put huge pressure on court system Judge Eoin Garavan tells Castlebar jury panel that there is no indication that legal aid dispute will be resolved anytime soon Sign up to our Mayo Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Mayo Live within your account.

A Circuit Court judge warned that the court system in Mayo will be under huge pressure in the autumn with no sign of a resolution in a dispute between solicitors and the Department of Justice.

For the third week in a row, a jury panel in Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court was sent home early by Judge Eoin Garavan because no trial was ready to proceed due to Mayo solicitors continuing to withdraw their services.

Mayo solicitors withdrew their services on June 23 and as a result no trials or sentences have been able to go ahead for the summer sittings of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court which began on June 29.

Speaking at this morning's sitting of the court, Judge Garavan thanked the jury panel for answering their jury summons but also apologised to them as they were not needed as the dispute is unlikely to be resolved. He commented that as a result the court list in October 'will be doubly as big' and will 'put huge pressure' on the system.

“I am very sorry to drag you in on a hot day but unfortunately there was no case in a position to proceed as a result of the ongoing dispute. All of these cases will end up in October and into a list which will be doubly as big and will put huge pressure on the system in October but so be it,” he said.

The dispute centres around a reform of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme which was introduced by the Minister for Justice on July 1 which saw the previous fee structure being replaced with a flat fee covering a fixed number of court appearances. Solicitors in Mayo and around Ireland have since withdrawn their services resulting in a backlog of criminal cases.

It had been hoped that a High Court application brought by a Dublin-based solicitor seeking a stay on the introduction of the reforms may allow solicitors to return to the court but the application is unlikely to be heard before the circuit court sittings end on July 31.

Up to 14 trial cases were listed to have a jury empanelled on Monday morning but the barristers representing the defendant informed Judge Garavan they had no instructions from their solicitor and were not in a position to proceed.

As a result, Mr Patrick Reynolds, counsel for the prosecution, asked for them to be adjourned until July 22 in order to fix dates for the October sittings of the circuit court. Mr Reynolds also commented that he had hoped that cases where defendants are in custody awaiting trial could go ahead but this is not the case.

He agreed with Judge Garavan that it was unlikely the dispute would be resolved this week and there was no need for the jury panel to return.

READ: Architect appointed for development of a steakhouse in north Mayo

“At one stage we were looking at bringing you in later on in the week but at this stage it is extremely unlikely that the dispute will be resolved anytime soon. My apologies and my gratitude on behalf of the court service to you all for your time,” Judge Garavan said to the jury.

The district court in Mayo has also been affected with all criminal cases being continuously adjourned which will result in a backlog of cases in the district court.