'We are done talking': Barristers strike on Cork courthouse steps for first time ever
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Barristers on strike for the first time ever outside the courthouse on Washington Street in Cork said on Tuesday the last place they wanted to be was on a picket line but they were driven there by sheer frustration.
Speaking on behalf of striking barristers, senior counsel Tom Creed said the strike was their only option.
“The attitude had been one of, ‘we are barristers and self-employed, keep talking to the Government’, but we are done talking. This is the only way we have now of highlighting it. If nothing happens after this I don’t know what will happen next but people feel strongly about it,” he said.
Mr Creed said many barristers would end up leaving the criminal representation side of the profession in favour of the more lucrative civil side if pay rates were not restored.
Some 50 barristers stood on the steps of the courthouse on Washington Street for their part of what is a national strike.
Criminal barristers have downed tools in what has been described as an “unprecedented” action, aimed at restoring legal aid fees to levels not seen since before the economic crash at the end of the 2000s.
In line with public service workers, barristers defending clients on free legal aid or prosecuting on behalf of the Director of Public Service took a number of financial cuts following the financial crash in 2008.
Mr Creed said they first took a cut of 8% followed by another 8% followed by 11%. Calculating for inflation, the barristers believe they are down more than 40%.
They claim fees for criminal barristers remain below 2002 levels in nominal terms. And they have not had a bounce-back tied in with other public sector workers. They say this has not occurred despite a range of additional reforms and changed practices delivered by barristers in recent years.
Nationally, Seán Guerin senior counsel, and chair of the Criminal State Bar Committee of the Bar Council, explained Tuesday's action: “It will effectively mean criminal courts won’t be able to do their normal day’s work. That is going to be inconvenient for anyone expecting their case to be dealt with. We regret that inconvenience enormously.
“We have been waiting now since July 2018 when it was agreed that we had provided cooperation with reform equivalent to those provided by others who secured a pay restoration. Five budgets have gone by in the interim… without the issue being addressed and so it is time now that it is addressed.
What we have asked for is pay restoration if line with elsewhere in the public service and no more than that. We have not asked for any pay increases.”
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sat in a reduced on Tuesday due to the industrial action.
The court sat as usual at 10.30am, with all business completed by 10.45am. All 22 cases listed for hearing before Judge Orla Crowe in Court 5 were adjourned to future court dates. These included six cases due to be sentenced, which were put back to upcoming court dates in November.
Judge Crowe directed the solicitor representing the Director of Public Prosecutions to notify defence counsel of these upcoming dates.
The normally busy courtroom was very quiet, with the benches reserved for barristers and solicitors both empty. Several accused people were present during the short sitting, but the public gallery was mostly empty.
In relation to solicitors — many of whom will be working on Tuesday — Southern Law Association president Emma Meagher-Neville said: “We can understand the reason behind the barristers’ decision to take this course of action. We work very closely with our colleagues in the Bar. We understand why it has come to this.
“The Law Society is actively campaigning for solicitors for restoration of criminal legal aid fees for the profession — in the public interest, in recognition of the right to equal access of legal representation which is enshrined in our constitution.”
At Cork District Court, ahead of Tuesday's stoppage by barristers, Judge Olann Kelleher asked what impact it would have on the work of solicitors. Solicitor Frank Buttimer said from his contact with the Southern Law Association the position was that solicitors would be working.
“While we very much support the actions of our colleagues in the Bar, solicitors tend to appear at district court level without barristers. So while we support them we don’t have any reason to stand down,” Mr Buttimer said.
There was no picket at Anglesea Street courthouse. The Central Criminal Court, which was due to sit at Anglesea Street, will not do so until Wednesday.
Mr Creed said: “A 40% cut in income — in fact it is 43.6% — does not augur well for the profession. We are no different to anybody else. If people cannot make a living they won’t stick at it.”
Mr Creed pointed to evidence of two thirds of new barristers deciding to leave the profession after six years. He said there needed to be an agreed process put in place that would be “meaningful, time-limited and binding” in order to end the dispute.
Tuesday may be something of a culture shock for barristers to take strike action and go on a picket line for the first time in their history. But Mr Creed added: “We are beyond embarrassment.”