No row with judges, insists Shatter

Justice Minister Alan Shatter insisted “there isn’t a row” between him and the judiciary and dismissed claims that communications between both sides had broken down as “bizarre”.

He made his comments as the increasingly bitter dispute between judges and the Government appeared to have been defused, after the Chief Justice Susan Denham secured agreement on a new mediation system.

She is due to meet the Taoiseach “to discuss the issues of mutual concern that emerge” following an unprecedented row over whether a range of government measures undermined the independence of the judiciary.