Campaign Trail
How four UCD students transformed Ireland’s legal landscape

FLAC, or Free Legal Advice Centres, this year marked their 40th anniversary with a celebration attended by President Mary McAleese, and FLAC founders and volunteers, past and present. Established in 1969 by a group of UCD student volunteers: David Byrne, later an EU Commissioner, Denis Mc Cullough, now a Senior Counsel, Vivian Lavan, now a High Court judge and Ian Candy, later a High Court Judge in Hong Kong, FLAC went on to play a crucial role in the campaign for legal rights for all.
Feeling spurred on by a talk on legal aid, these four students decided to lend their expertise and knowledge to those members of the community unable to afford legal fees. Together, they began providing free legal advice, with the ultimate goal of convincing the government to establish a civil legal aid scheme. By 1972, FLAC had dealt with 2,437 files, dealing with family, crime, landlord, and tenant law and, by 1974, their annual report listed over 8,000 files. In 1975, FLAC opened Ireland’s first community law centre, in Coolock (now the Northside Community Law Centre).


YOU CAN READ THE REST OF THIS STORY IN THE 2009/2010 ISSUE OF UCD Connections Magazine, OUT NOW
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