The public's need for information and assistance on legal matters continues to rise across Ireland, says legal rights group FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres ) in its annual report for 2011, with some 25,000 people contacting its telephone information line and legal advice centres last year.
In Mayo, FLAC operates two legal advice services in conjunction with the Citizen Information Service, one on the third Tuesday of the month in Ballina, and one on the last Thursday of the month in Castlebar.
One hundred and forty people in Mayo attended these centres in 2011 for legal advice. Almost 90 per cent of all callers to legal advice clinics in Mayo had not discussed their legal issue with a private solicitor highlighting the growing need for the service in the county.
The main queries in the county related to: family (32 per cent ); 15 per cent civil; 10 per cent wills, succession, probate; nine per cent property; nine per cent negligence, personal injury; eight per cent credit and debt; eight per cent criminal; five per cent employment and four per cent consumer.
