We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
IRISH-AMERICAN FORMER US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has been nominated by Joe Biden to lead the country’s foreign aid agency.
Power is a former journalist who was appointed to the US National Security Council under President Barack Obama before serving as UN ambassador from 2013 to 2017.
In a statement today, President-elect Biden has confirmed that Power is to lead the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The independent agency coordinates foreign aid deployment from the US federal budget and operates in over 100 countries worldwide.
“Samantha Power is a world-renowned voice of conscience and moral clarity — challenging and rallying the international community to stand up for the dignity and humanity of all people,” Biden said today in a statement.
Born in Dublin, Power moving to the US as a child and has returned to Ireland on many occasions in recent years to speak about her work.
After Trump’s election, Power became Anna Lindh Professor of the practice of global leadership and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D Zabel Professor of practice in human rights at Harvard Law School.
Biden’s nomination of Power to a senior position follows the nomination Irish-American Marty Walsh to the position of Labour secretary in the new administration.
Introducing Walsh at a press conference in Delaware last week, Biden joked that the only downside of nominating his “good friend” was that his parents were “not from Mayo, they’re from Galway”.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Of course it is… But then so is the system that allows billionaires hire the most expensive legal minds in the country, and then dump the costs on the taxpayer when they get off on a tecnicality.
@David Knight: There’s nothing wrong with that to be fair.
@Peter: there’s everything wrong with that
@Michael Hayden:
There a far too many technicalities that get people off but bottom line if you are acquitted in a criminal you shouldn’t be out of pocket, weather your a billionaire or an ordinary person.
@Michael Hayden: think about what you’re saying. If it wasn’t for cost awards to innocent people, innocent people could be ruined financially by a legal case. That would be wrong. If somebody is innocent they shouldn’t be punished financially in order to clear their name.
@Lurfic: Big difference between innocent and getting off on a technicality.
@Peter: are you for real?
@David Knight: So it’s Sean Fitzpstrck’s fault he got off???
Maybe the DPP needs to man up to his level of lawyer.
Maybe the OECD needs to man up to an acceptable level. Both are Government controlled.
@Gareth Cooney: What????
@Peter: Nothing wrong with it if you believe justice can be bought, but paid for by the taxpayer. Hard to believe you put the word fair in there :-)
Free legal aid should only be available a max of 3 times to anyone in a lifetime. After that you are on your own.
@Liam McGowan: Well Liam I have been saying that for years, it is highly unlikely that you will be wrongly accused of a crime more than 3 times but some of our criminal types are getting FLA every week and but O’ Mahony is only interested on those who can afforded to pay for defence. The solicitors and barristers will scream blue murder but I would like to see them in agony over ripping us off. You should not be given FLA to defend yourself if you have refused asylum assuming the hearing or judgment was fair and proper.
@Jho Harris: The vast majority of Free legal aid cases are quick, in and out, in the district and circuit courts. – €20 per client is what is paid to the solicitor. As for representing yourself – would you? If you would, you’ve got a fool for a client.
@Matt Connolly: There’s no such thing as free legal aid. It is means tested and there is payments required for both the solicitor and if necessary the barrister. The costs aren’t huge something like 50 quid . That’s the way it is for non criminal legal aid and I believe it’s the same for criminal but I could be wrong as I’ve never used it or been accused of a crime.
@Matt Connolly: 20 quid per client? Are you having a laugh? Where did you get that price. It’s 120 for the first appearance and 60 for each appearance thereafter. And that is per client.
@Matt Connolly: I don’t want to see even as you suggest even € 20 a week on the dregs of society making sure they can get out and attack another old person to rob them.
@Catherine Sims: I have never used our legal system probably because of the way I was brought up. Respect for others and animals honesty and dicipline among others. However it was reported that a certain individuals lawyer was 40,000 per day instead of 1,796 and so to be fair to the prosecution they got paid the same. How bloody wrong is that. Our top earners seem to have no morals anymore never mind fairness
@Mary Murphy: 40,000 grand per day? Surely that can’t be correct, I know the legal profession know how to charge but that is ridiculous if true
@Mary Murphy: Like yourself I never cost the sate a halfpenny in FLA and I can say the same about my family and my circle of friends. How come one group get no recognition for being law abiding while the dregs get so much assistance? You have to serve time in jail before the state rewards you for “good behaviour”
@Liam McGowan: excellent suggestion!
Free legal aid should be means tested . They should only get it once an once only. End of why should we pay time an time again it’s a pure joke. Ir really is. Just like these multiple claims they should shoulder the costs.
@John Scott: Do you trust the system not to go after easy convictions because someone can’t afford proper representation and just because they were guilty of something in the past?
It’s like disclosing prior convictions to a jury. Even if innocent on that occasion, they are more likely to convict because they’ve been guilty of something in the past.
Fine Gael party line – vilify the poor.
@John Scott: In essence you are saying that you should only have proper access to justice once in your life if you cannot afford it. Thereafter any allegation made against you, you will be guaranteed not to have a fair trial.
The whole system needs changing anyone caught red handed committing a serious crime should not get bail. Nobody should be walking the streets with more than 5 previous convictions. Serious offenders should not be given any time suspended and serve full sentence. Anyone caught with a knife or gun should get a 10 year straight sentence.
That’s just to start with.
@Eddie Byrne:
anyone convicted of a violent crime should be sterilised and repeat sexual offenders should be castrasted completely no need to lock them up after that.
Of course it!
Criminals and Solicitor and Barristers all laugh at the good honest hard working tax paying Irish citizen.
@MyBrokenKnees: What are you talking about. In reality legal aid payments are insignificant. A barrister or solicitor could sit in court all day for a hearing and only earn €50.39. I don’t think practioners laugh at that. Please inform yourself before making ludicrous statements.
Most definitely!…..
@Kate Flaherty: being abused by that barristers and solicitors on top of the accused. No incentive to Clean up the system by everyone involved in it
Jesus, the guts of half a billion euro in 8 years! Seems very, very wrong… Our legal system needs a serious overhaul, including solicitor and barrister costs!
@Brendan McGill: or, to look at it another way, fifty million a year. That’s less than a tenner per person. Is the value that poor, compared to the billions spent on detection, investigation and prosecution of crime?
Anything that’s free to the end user will be abused.
surely the way to go with this is “means testing ” seanie Fitz, should have paid his own legal fees instead of the taxpayer paying it for him and putting huge amounts of money in the solicitors pocket only for the trial to intentionally collapse.
@Martin Ryan:
I very much doubt Seanie Fitz got free legal aid (feel free to correct!). He would have had his expenses paid because he was acquitted which is necessary, had he been convicted he would have to pay his own.
@P.J. Nolan: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/sean-fitzpatrick-granted-legal-aid-for-upcoming-trial-1.1924222
@P.J. Nolan: Well the trial was collapsed so he was never going to have to pay.
@Martin Ryan:
Fair enough Martin, I wasn’t aware of that.
bankruptcy,hmmmmm
@P.J. Nolan: seanie, still has his splendid home in greystones too.
@Martin Ryan:
Was talking to a developer once that was put into NAMA, he was one of the smaller scale guys but that was the deal that was offered to him, cooperate and they wouldn’t touch the family home.
So he still has his enormous Celtic tiger mansion.
I suspect its similar with the bankruptcy courts.
As I said in an earlier, legal aid in this country needs to be expanded to include property disputes and defamation, not reduced. There should also be a system in place that helps pay the costs of a Judicial Review. The problem in this country is that there is a two tier justice system. Proposals such as the one put forward by this blue-shirt senator seek to limit the access to justice and entrench the two tier system.
This senator embodies everything that is wrong with Fine Gael. They seek to punish the most vulnerable and support the most powerful. I wonder what the fees are for appealing the Apple case.
@Darren Gray: property disputes and defamation are civil suits, not criminal. Can’t see why legal aid should be expanded to cover non-criminal courts.
@Paul: Same reasons I’d imagine, to have proper access to justice, especial where there is an inequality of arms.
@Paul: As Bobby said, to ensure that people who cannot afford to vindicate their rights are not precluded from accessing the courts.
Employ a panel of solicitors and curb the costs by having them on set wage.
Yes. It is. I once saw a guy granted free legal aid who had his own courier business, and was my landlord when I was a student. He was up on an assault charge for decking some guy in a pub.
@Niall Sullivan:
It’s entirely possible for someone who is self employed and a property owner to be up to his eyeballs in debt but yes we need proper means testing.
@P.J. Nolan: The judge, in court granted him free legal aid there and then. There was no trawling through finances.
Absolutely
If you are found guilty do you have to pay back the free legal aid or is it free, free?
Apart from that it seems to me free legal aid must be an invention by the legal profession. Because surely its not free, its just that someone else (you & me) are paying for it..
I have more important things to spend my frugal hard earned finances on then helping with the legal bills of degenerates that have stolen from me.
I’d rather someone gets it that doesn’t need it, than someone who needs it not getting it. No one should stand in front of a judge with their lives in the balance without an expert at their side. If they waive that right, that’s their business, and I’ve no problem with seizure of assets if that is deemed necessary afterwards, but if you need a lawyer beside you, you get one.
The entire legal system here is a bit of a crock. Far too expensive even during the recession these companies were still on their own planet on costs. It’s one of the last bastions of auld Ireland that needs taking down. The government will not take them on due to too many conflicts of interest and connections. In the meantime ordinary decent people who need FLA are being pushed to one side by well heeled crims who won’t dip into their own pockets to pay for legal representation that they brought on themselves through criminal activity. Sure you couldn’t make it up!
Irelands whole criminal justice system is being abused.
Tell me a system that isn’t Getting abused by the wealthy in this country
There are certain legal firms in Dublin that make millions every year from FLA. This is exctly why Judges are soft on sentencing and thugs can rack up 100s of convictions without doing time. Judges were solicitors & barristers once. Its a gravy train for the legal cartel at the expense of taxpayers
What are people basing their yes on because i’d bet 90%(poll results atm) don’t even know enough about it to form any opinion. I may assume john o mahony does and if he thinks an investigation needs to be done to access the situation then that’s all i’m gonna agree with. If the free legal aid is supposed to given to people with ‘insufficient means’ and yet people with high means have been awarded it then, that needs to be looked at and it needs to be transparent!
Anyone can make a mistake and maybe err a second time. If a third offence is proved guilty, then legal aid should not be offered. Any future offences costs should be paid for by the accused.
I just wonder what awakened John O’Mahoney, he was in the Dail for a good number of years and made very little contribution there. He must have ambitions of going back there.
If Found guilty = no legal aid paid out. = Simple solution. No win _No fees.
I would be interested to see how the accounts are settled aswell.
How does the state know who is paying who and if those payments are correct?
The whole thing needs a re think.
Im sure a lot of petty crime doesnt need legal representation at all, a Discussion between accused and Judge would be enough.
Who decides if legal representation is actually required?
If you are rich you can afford legal aid . If you are poor, or if you are a drug dealer claiming social welfare ,or a TD playing at being “working class “”the taxpayer funds your legal aid. If you are an average PAYE worker you have no access to justice you just pay for the system
If you require legal aid outside of criminal cases for say divorce or family law then you are mead tests. It’s not free but the payments are relatively low. I can’t understand why criminal legal aid seems to work differently in practise . I’m sure it is means tested but there does seem to be wealthy individuals availing of it. Perhaps it’s because the wealth is not legit and hidden away or temporarily seized or frozen. I’m not sure but it does seem to be a ridiculous system.
@Catherine Sims: A solicitor in another town charges 1 Euro per minute for appearances.
Maybe that’s why he has crocodile skin shoes and an apartment in Turkey.
@eastsmer #IRExit: If I was going to jump on the bandwagon of begrudgery for anyone with new shoes I’d still feel sorry for anyone with any asset in Turkey right now.
@eastsmer #IRExit: €60 an hour then. Thats not a lot. It seems fair. Im an electrician and including VAT we charge about €50 p/hr . I thought a solicitor would charge double that.
Costs are too high.troika told government to reduce judges, barristers, solicitors,fees.they are round to it.
Yes it’s being abused mostly by solicitors
By the judges and solicitors yeah for sure.
Yes if Paul Murphy a td on 80 grand a year can swing free legal aid there is something wrong
Gravy train for legals it will never be changed.
Everything in Ireland needs and overhaul!
Any one before the courts on a regular basis should have a limit placed on access to legal aid ,however the legal profession will do everything to protect their interests .some form of criminal asset stripping should be looked at ,cease whatever goods they have .its become a foolish waste of taxpayers money .
Taxpayers foot the bill so no one cares as it keeps some of the golden circle happy .
I think we should stop having polls on every second article! Are the journo selling this info on or what, and if so, what use is it as most polls are rubbish and irrelevant!
Yes it is being abused 100 precent this law is outrageous and ridiculous
Just take a look at 1 of our TD’s on €90k plus €80 a day in expenses and gets FREE legal aid
WHAT A KICK IN THE ARSE FOR TAXPAYERS
@David Knight..
Remember the seany fitzz trial…
His “free” legal aid cost €10 mill..
Compliments of irish taxpayer.
no such thing as “FREE” when it comes to a service, government should never use this term unless they are on about wind, rain the likes
A blind man could see that it’s being abused! eg: local Scu#bag drug dealer gets arrested, applies for free legal aid despite the fact an array of expensive items, in his name of course, have been removed, huge amount of ‘his’ money has been confiscated etc….. I keep.on saying this, our Irish judiciary system is an antiquated joke!
just scrap it. dont waste good money on useless people
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say