Letterkenny Circuit Court sees over 300 adjourned cases due to strikes
Ongoing criminal defence solicitor dispute affects over 200 criminal lists cases at Letterkenny Circuit Court
The first day of the latest Letterkenny Circuit Court period has seen over 300 cases adjourned after being affected by the ongoing solicitor strike.
An amount of 217 criminal list cases and 87 were adjourned into later Circuit Court sessions in December 2026 or February 2027 for future Donegal or Letterkenny Circuit Court listings, along with a Special Letterkenny Circuit Court listing scheduled for January 2017.
A further 86 District Court appeals were put back following the criminal list cases.
Judge John Aylmer adjourned two cases to October 28 to allow the same defendant to appear at Letterkenny Courthouse after the Barrister to the State, Ms Fiona Crawford BL, told Judge Aylmer that the State did not consent to adjourn the cases without the defendant present.
The vast majority of criminal matters to be dealt with either by trial or sentencing in the current Letterkenny Circuit Court hearing affected defendants already held in custody.
Criminal Defence Solicitors have withdrawn their services from both District, Circuit, and Central Circuit Court hearings nationwide since June, in protest against the Government’s proposed payment scheme for criminal defence solicitors.