Analysis

Dr Ian Marder offers thoughts on the Probation Service's newly-published restorative justice action plan. In May, the Probation Service published its Restorative Justice Action Plan for 2025-27. Subtitled Restoring Relationships: Repairing Harm and Empowering Voices through Restorative Justice, the

Paddy Kelly’s energetic leadership of the Children’s Law Centre (CLC) in Northern Ireland has seen it assume a pivotal role in advancing the rights and best interests of children and young people. When Ms Kelly, its founder and CEO, steps down at the end of this month, the most important

William Fry lawyers John O'Connor, Rachel Hayes and Conor Forde look at new EDPB guidelines on the use of blockchain and their impact on the Web3 industry. On 14 April 2025, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) opened its public consultation on its guidelines for the processing of personal data

Hannah Unger, Demi Mullen and Carrie McMeel reflect on the first nine months of Dog Law Ireland. In August 2024, we founded Dog Law Ireland. It came together at a pivotal point in Ireland’s dog-control landscape — shortly after the announcement of Ireland’s first breed ban. This mo

A new book casts new light on the fight against Big Asbestos, writes Tom Marshall. The history of the harms caused by asbestos is a long and painful one. Since the start of the large-scale commercial exploitation of the mineral in the 19th century, evidence of its damaging effects has been noted and

Northern Ireland lawyer Aine Tyrrell considers the circumstances in which a public inquiry is justified. Since the start of this century, the public in Northern Ireland have become all too familiar with the role that a public inquiry can play in investigating a particular incident or set of events.

William Fry lawyers Ciara McLoughlin and Ciara Kelliher summarise the key findings of the Pensions Authority 2024 Supervisory Activities report, highlighting takeaways for pension trustees. The Pensions Authority recently published its report on the supervisory activities that it carried out in 2024

Ailish Finnerty has had only had some six weeks to become accustomed to her role as the new chair at Arthur Cox. She has, though, an air of calm assurance — the consequence of her history with the firm, one that stretches back to her becoming a trainee there after taking a BCL and LLM at UCC a

Scottish mediator John Sturrock KC shares wise words on Donald Trump's assault on law firms. In 1996, I attended Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON) to learn, for the first time, about interest-based negotiation. I was privileged to study under the legendary Professor Roger Fisher, co-autho

As the GDPR turns seven, William Fry lawyers Rachel Hayes and India Delaney consider new EU proposals to amend the landmark data protection law. On 25 May 2025, we marked the seventh anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect. Over the past seven years, the GDPR

Dear Taoiseach Micheál Martin, We, the undersigned, members of the legal profession and academy, are writing to express our deep concern at the Irish Government’s continued failure to take the necessary steps to comply with its international legal obligations in relation to the crisis i

Robert Shiels reviews a new book on the less popular of the two things said to be certain in life. Death scholarship is well-established. Dr Molly Conisbee, a visiting fellow at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, has studied many aspects of death and mourning.

A&L Goodbody lawyers Abbey Walker, Keith Dunn and Mark Thompson consider whether WhatsApp messages and emojis can be legally binding. In today's digital age, the use of emojis and messaging platforms like WhatsApp have become commonplace in business communications. However, recent legal cases ha

RDJ partner Darryl Broderick and associate Matthew Wallace analyse different jurisdictions' approaches to NPO applications and review alternative methods by which information may be obtained in Ireland. Norwich Pharmacal Relief is a court ordered relief, compelling an individual or a company to disc

A new five-part documentary series on the Vietnam war, now available on Netflix, charts the course of the war and skilfully explores how the Vietnam debacle has weakened American democracy and continues to do so. Turning Point: The Vietnam War may lack the subtlety and incredible show-don’t-te