Siún Hurley, Chair

The 20-member committee has varied experience in all areas of child and family law, and had a very active year in 2025 into 2026. Many members represented the Law Society on external committees, including Courts Service groups, civil legal aid, and a European lawyers’ group.

The committee participated in forums in the Department of Justice relating to the development of family and child law. It is divided into subcommittees to represent the interests of family-law practitioners and advocate on their behalf for legislative reform and change.

The chair and committee members also contributed several articles and guidance notes to the Gazette, as well as CPD seminars and Law School programmes. Members worked on a number of projects during the year, and held a very successful Family Law Conference in November 2025.

The chair was invited by the Bar Council to give a presentation at their Civil Legal Aid Conference in November 2025, in which she focused on the Legal Aid Board’s Family Law Private Practitioners Scheme. From this followed an invitation from FLAC, in collaboration with Trinity Law School, to the chair and to Keith Walsh SC to give presentations at their conference, titled ‘Civil legal aid: from review to reform’, in Trinity College. At the Department of Justice Joint Oireachtas Committee on Civil Justice, Dr Brian Hunt and Keith Walsh SC represented the Law Society at a review of civil legal aid.

The committee is active in advocating for legislative reform. It continues to engage with the Law Society’s Policy Department and fosters constructive alliances with stakeholders.

It continued to provide a strong voice in representing our colleagues in the area of family-law reform. The Family Courts Act 2024 will remain under committee scrutiny and the watchful eye of a dedicated subcommittee. Submissions were made by the committee to the Civil Reform Bill 2025 review.

The committee continues to seek amendments to legislation to address anomalies on pension adjustment orders. It reviewed and identified issues in legislative bills, thereby ensuring (a) practicality, (b) bringing first-hand insights from practitioners who daily handle family-law disputes directly to lawmakers, and (c) the vulnerable have professional court representation.

The committee will continue to seek improvements to the civil legal-aid system, which underpins access to justice for all.

At its June 2025 committee meeting, the Chair congratulated committee member Elizabeth (Liz) Healy on her appointment to the District Court. At its April 2026 meeting, she congratulated committee member and committee vice-chair Eamonn (Edward) Carroll on his appointment to the District Court. Ailbhe Burke (MacSweeney & Co, Solicitors, Galway), a longstanding and dedicated committee member, was appointed as committee Vice-Chair. As always, the work Judith Tedders does as committee secretary is acknowledged and much appreciated.