What a solicitor actually does in the interview room
Not theatre. Not objections. Six specific jobs, and they are the ones that decide cases.
If you have been arrested, or asked to come in for a “chat”, do not answer questions until you have spoken to a solicitor. Six criminal defence solicitors. Five Dublin offices. One number, any hour.
Emergency line: 087 122 3080, answered day and night, including weekends and bank holidays.
Tell us where you are and we will call you straight back.
If someone is in a Garda station now, calling or WhatsApp is far faster than this form.
If you are reading this from a Garda station, or someone has just rung you from one, start here. Six steps, in order.
You do not have to explain why. Ask the member in charge to record your request in the custody record. Then ask for Ferrys Solicitors by name. You are entitled to nominate your own solicitor rather than take whoever is next on a list.
Not the serious questions, and not the ones that sound harmless. “Where were you Friday?” is not small talk in a Garda station. You can be polite and still say: “I am not answering any questions until I have spoken to my solicitor.”
Not a statement, not a caution form, not a note of what you supposedly said. Signing turns a conversation into evidence.
Any hour, any day. If you cannot call, ask the Gardaí to call for you. They must facilitate reasonable access to a solicitor. If a family member is making the call, they should be ready to say which station, and the person’s full name and date of birth.
Questioning should not begin before the solicitor you have asked for has had a chance to advise you. If an interview starts anyway, say again, on the record, that you have asked for a solicitor and are not answering until one arrives.
Advice in the station is covered by a State scheme for people who are detained. Cost should never be the reason someone goes into an interview alone. We assess eligibility on the call.
The single most expensive mistake people make is talking before they get advice, because they think saying nothing looks guilty. It does not. What it does is stop you from accidentally agreeing to a version of events written by someone else.
There are two ways you end up in an interview room, and the difference matters less than most people assume.
You are held under a statutory power for a fixed period so that you can be questioned. You will be brought before the member in charge, told why you are being detained, and given a notice of your rights.
The custody record starts running. Everything from that point is written down: the times, the requests, the interviews.
Nobody has arrested you. A Garda has phoned, or called to the house, and asked you to come in and help with an enquiry. You are free to leave at any time unless and until you are arrested.
The interview is still recorded. What you say is still evidence.
Voluntary does not mean safe. A voluntary attendance can turn into an arrest in the same room, in the same hour, the moment the Gardaí decide they have grounds. The only real difference is that you walked in, which is often read, later, as confidence.
The right response is neither to refuse nor to turn up alone. It is to say: “I’m happy to arrange a time through my solicitor.” Then ring us, so we can find out what the enquiry actually concerns before you walk in.
Read the full guide: Asked to attend a Garda station voluntarily
Three of them do most of the work. Know what each one actually means, and what it does not.
You are entitled to reasonable access to a solicitor, to consult privately, and to have a solicitor present during interview. Crucially, you can name the solicitor you want. You do not have to accept whoever happens to be on the station’s list. If you ask for Ferrys, the Gardaí should contact us. If your chosen solicitor genuinely cannot be reached you will be offered someone else. But “we couldn’t get through” after one attempt at 4am is not the same thing as unavailable. Ask for the attempts to be recorded.
You cannot be compelled to answer questions or to give a statement. But the right is qualified, and anyone who tells you it is absolute is doing you no favours. In defined circumstances a court may be invited to draw an inference from a failure to answer, and those provisions carry preconditions that have to be met first. An inference on its own cannot convict you. Which questions to answer is a judgement made question by question, with advice.
Full guide: can I refuse to answer Garda questions?
You do not have to prove anything. The prosecution has to prove the case against you beyond reasonable doubt. Being arrested is not being charged; being charged is not being convicted. A great many Garda-station detentions end with no charge at all.
The rest of the notice. You are also entitled to have someone told where you are, to medical attention if you need it, to an interpreter if you need one, and to reasonable food and rest. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must be notified and an adult should be present for interview.
It depends entirely on which power you are detained under. Ask which one, and ask for it to be written in the custody record.
| Detention power | Initial period | Extensions | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrestable offencess.4 Criminal Justice Act 1984 | 6 hours | A further 6 hours on the authority of a superintendent, then a further 12 hours on the authority of a chief superintendent | 24 hours |
| Offences Against the States.30 Offences Against the State Act 1939 | 24 hours | A further 24 hours by a chief superintendent, then a further 24 hours on application to the District Court | 72 hours |
| Drug traffickings.2 Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 | 6 hours | Successive extensions, the later ones requiring a judge | 7 days |
| Certain serious offencess.50 Criminal Justice Act 2007 | 6 hours | Successive extensions, the later ones requiring a judge | 7 days |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
The clock is not the same as the wall clock. Detention can be suspended overnight for a rest period, and that suspended time does not count against the total. So a “24 hour” detention can comfortably span two calendar days. This is one of the most common shocks for families waiting outside.
Arrival and the opening of the custody record; a private consultation before the first interview; the interviews themselves, recorded and time-limited, with breaks between them; any extension, which an officer of the required rank has to authorise on recorded grounds; and then one of three endings: released without charge, released while a file goes to the DPP, or charged.
Read the full guide: What happens after you are arrested, hour by hour
If station bail is refused you will be brought to court for a bail application. That is a hearing, with evidence, and it is not one to attend without representation. Read more on our criminal defence page.
Not theatre. Not objections. Six specific jobs, and they are the ones that decide cases.
We speak to the member in charge, establish what power you are detained under, what the alleged offence is, and what disclosure the Gardaí are prepared to give. Then we consult with you privately, and that consultation is confidential.
Whether to answer, whether to answer some things and not others, whether to give a prepared statement, and what each choice costs given the inference provisions in play. That advice can change between interview one and interview three as more is disclosed.
Not to answer for you, but to intervene when a question is unfair, oppressive, or misstates what you have said; to stop the interview and take instructions when something new is put to you; and to keep the questioning inside what the law permits.
Times, requests, refusals, what was disclosed and when. If something is done that should not have been, the note we take at 3am is the thing that gets argued in court eight months later. Interviews are recorded. The surrounding procedure is not.
Formal identification, fingerprints, photographs, DNA and other samples all have rules about consent, authorisation and refusal. Getting these wrong is expensive and usually irreversible.
If you are charged, we make the station bail application, or the court bail application in the morning. If you are released pending a DPP decision, we tell you what to expect and when.
Two separate schemes. People confuse them constantly, and the confusion costs them advice they were entitled to.
Legal advice given to a person detained in a Garda station is covered by the Garda Station Legal Advice Revised Scheme, administered by the Legal Aid Board. It covers the consultation and attendance at interview. A statement of means is completed as part of the process.
The practical point: you should never go into an interview without advice because you are worried about the bill. Ring us and we will tell you where you stand before anything is agreed.
If you are charged, criminal legal aid for the court proceedings is a separate application, decided by the judge. Two things are weighed: whether your means are insufficient to pay for representation yourself, and whether the gravity of the charge or exceptional circumstances make representation essential in the interests of justice.
The means assessment looks at income, assets, dependants, rent or mortgage, and outgoings. If the case is sent forward to the Circuit or Central Criminal Court, an existing certificate carries forward.
Read the full guide: Garda station legal aid: what it covers and how to claim it
Not sure whether you qualify? That is a two-minute conversation, not a form. Call 087 122 3080 and we will assess it with you on the call.
You cannot be in the room. You can do these five things, and they matter.
If they rang you, ask. If you do not know, ring the local district station and ask whether the person is in custody. A detained person is entitled to have someone notified of where they are.
Full name, date of birth, and the station. That is enough for us to make contact. Call 087 122 3080 or message us on WhatsApp.
Give the firm’s name. This is often the fastest way to stop an interview starting before advice is given.
Not with them, not with anyone else, and not on social media. Anything said can find its way into the case.
If they are charged and refused station bail, there will be a court appearance. An independent surety with proof of address and means may be needed. Ask us early. Assembling it at 9am on the morning is much harder.
Read the full guide: A family member has been arrested: the full guide
If the person arrested is under 18, a parent or guardian must be notified and an appropriate adult should be present for interview. Do not let a child be interviewed alone. See our page on child care law for related matters.
An out-of-hours number is only worth what stands behind it. Here is ours, named.
Ferrys has six criminal defence solicitors, and they share the out-of-hours cover between them. That is what makes a 24-hour service sustainable rather than aspirational: when a call comes in at 2am on a Sunday, it is not one person’s phone ringing for the fourth night running. It is a rota.
Read the full guide: Weekend and out-of-hours solicitor
The firm has been practising since 1989, from five offices across Dublin, appearing daily in the District, Circuit and Central Criminal Courts. When your case moves from the station to the court, it does not move to a different firm.
Head of criminal defence
Tony leads the criminal defence team. He is a member of the Law Society of Ireland’s Education Faculty, where he teaches the solicitors coming up behind him, and sits on the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association’s Criminal Law Committee. He writes on criminal practice, including prison remission and prisoner rights and civil restraining orders.
For anything outside an emergency, your nearest office is below, with the Garda stations each one covers. In an emergency, use the 24-hour line.
Ormond Quay
Inn Chambers, 15 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7, D07 YK6A
Garda station cover from Ormond Quay: Bridewell, Store Street, Pearse Street, Kevin Street and Mountjoy.
(01) 677 9408Rialto
443 South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8, D08 F6X9
Garda station cover from Rialto: Kilmainham, Crumlin, Sundrive Road and Terenure.
(01) 454 4275Artane
Malahide Road / Kilmore Road Corner, Artane, Dublin 5, D05 TP28
Garda station cover from Artane: Coolock, Raheny, Clontarf and Santry.
(01) 832 7849Ballyfermot
345 Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, D10 YF21
Garda station cover from Ballyfermot: Ballyfermot, Ronanstown, Clondalkin and Lucan.
(01) 626 9475Ballymun
Santry Cross, Dublin 11, D11 T925
Garda station cover from Ballymun: Ballymun, Finglas, Cabra and Blanchardstown.
(01) 960 2047Out of hours, every office routes to the same emergency line: 087 122 3080.
The questions people ring us with, most often at the worst hour.
Yes. The interview is recorded and what you say in it becomes evidence, whether you attended voluntarily or were arrested. A solicitor establishes what the allegation actually is, advises you on which questions carry a risk of an adverse inference and which do not, and is present to intervene if the questioning becomes unfair. Advice in the station is covered by a State scheme, so cost should not be the deciding factor.
You can nominate your own. Ask for Ferrys Solicitors by name and ask for the request to be recorded in the custody record. You are entitled to reasonable access to the solicitor you choose; you only take someone from a list if your own solicitor genuinely cannot be contacted. If you are told we could not be reached, ask for the attempts to be recorded. Our line is answered around the clock.
It depends on the power you are detained under. For most arrestable offences it is six hours initially, extendable by a further six hours by a superintendent and a further twelve by a chief superintendent, for twenty-four hours in total. Detention under the Offences Against the State Act can run to seventy-two hours with judicial authorisation, and drug-trafficking and certain serious-offence powers can reach seven days. Note that time can be suspended overnight for a rest period, so a twenty-four hour detention may span more than a calendar day.
Not automatically. You cannot be compelled to answer, but the right to silence is qualified: in defined circumstances a court may be invited to draw an inference from a failure to account for an object, a substance, a mark or your presence somewhere, or from failing to mention something you later rely on in your defence. Those provisions only bite where you were warned in ordinary language, had a chance to consult a solicitor first, and the interview was recorded. An inference alone cannot convict you. Which questions to answer is a judgement made question by question, which is exactly what a solicitor is there for.
If you have not been arrested, attendance is voluntary and you are free to leave at any time unless you are arrested. But voluntary does not mean low-risk: the interview is still recorded, what you say is still evidence, and a voluntary attendance can become an arrest in the same room. The right answer is usually neither to refuse nor to walk in alone. Say you will arrange a time through your solicitor, then ring us so we can find out what the enquiry concerns first.
Legal advice for a person detained in a Garda station is covered by the Garda Station Legal Advice Revised Scheme, administered by the Legal Aid Board, which covers the consultation and attendance at interview. Legal aid for the court case afterwards is a separate application decided by the judge, weighing your means against the gravity of the charge. We assess both with you on the call.
Find out which station he is in, then ring 087 122 3080 with his full name, date of birth and the station. Ask the station to record that a solicitor has been instructed. Do not discuss the allegation on the phone or online. If he is under 18, a parent or guardian must be notified and an appropriate adult should be present for interview. He should not be interviewed alone.
One of three things. You are released without charge; you are released while a file goes to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision; or you are charged. If you are charged you will either be released on station bail with charge sheets and a court date, or brought before the next available court. If station bail is refused there will be a bail application in court, which is a hearing with evidence and not one to attend unrepresented.
Yes. Six criminal defence solicitors share the out-of-hours cover, which is what makes round-the-clock availability workable rather than a claim on a website. Call 087 122 3080 or message the same number on WhatsApp, at any hour, including weekends and bank holidays.
Whether you have been arrested or simply asked to come in, one phone call before you answer any questions is the most useful thing you will do today. We will tell you where you stand, assess whether legal aid covers you, and if you need someone at the station, we will get there.
General information, not legal advice. This page describes Irish criminal procedure in general terms. Every case turns on its own facts and the law changes. Nothing here creates a solicitor–client relationship, and no outcome is promised or implied. For advice on your own situation, speak to a solicitor.
Ferrys Solicitors LLP is regulated by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority. Content reviewed by Tony Collier, solicitor. Last reviewed PENDING.
