First intake confirmed for Vizlegal's Community Access Programme
Vizlegal welcomes a wide range of civil society organisations and NGOs to its Community Access Programme, giving free access to legal research tools for policy, legal and advocacy work.
Vizlegal has confirmed the early cohort of organisations to join its Community Access Programme, a fee waiver initiative launched earlier this year to give registered charities working in legal and policy reform the same research tools used by practitioners across Ireland.
The response to the programme was strong, reflecting a clear need among civil society organisations for reliable, up to date efficient access to legal data and legal decisions that impact on their work and constituencies. Many of the organisations - from access to justice, environment and children’s rights - are vital in shaping legal and policy debate in Ireland:
Onboarded so far:
- FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres)
- An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland
- Rape Crisis Network Ireland
- Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
- Irish Refugee Council (IRC)
- Transparency International Ireland
- Ballymun Community Law Centre
- Mercy Law Resource Centre
- Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT)
- Age Action
- Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
Why the programme matters
Gavin Sheridan, Vizlegal's CEO, has described advocacy organisations as often having the least time and resources to carry out the evidence-based work their mandates require.
The Community Access Programme is designed to close that gap, giving civil society organisations the same visibility and research efficiency that law firms and public bodies already rely on.
Cormac Ó Culáin, Head of Sectoral Engagement with Vizlegal observed:
During our conversations and onboarding with these organisations, one thing that permeates is the extent of demand for their services, the increasing complexity of their work,and how our platform will aid in those tasks, as well as saving valuable time to focus on other priorities.
Vizlegal will continue to work with these eleven organisations throughout the 2026/2027 legal year and expects to open a further intake ahead of the next cycle.
Each organisation enjoys access to the suite of Vizlegal sources and feature for the 2026/2027 legal year, including with access to court judgment searches, High Court case tracking, hearing alerts, and AI-generated judgment summaries across 38 official sources, including the WRC, the Labour Court, planning decisions, An Coimisiún Pleanála, the Data Protection Commission, and CJEU case law.
To find out more about Vizlegal's research tools, visit vizlegal.com/contact or hello@vizlegal.com