Solicitor training for garda interviews

There is a “desperate need” for laws to give suspects in custody the legal right to have a solicitor present for garda interviews, a leading academic has said.

Associate professor Vicky Conway of the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University said that although the DPP ruled four years ago that solicitors were permitted to attend, there was still no legal right to it.

“There is a very real issue that people are not getting the defence they need and entitled to,” said Dr Conway.