Some of you may not be familiar with the Iris Oifigiúil. And why should you be?
It is the Irish State Gazette, and has just published a list of the newly appointed Construction Contracts Adjudication Panel, good for the next 5 years. It suggests that Ireland might, without undue haste[1], be moving towards commencement of its Construction Contracts Act 2013. Interestingly, about 1/3 of the panel is based outside the Republic of Ireland – mostly England but a couple from Northern Ireland and one from Scotland[2].
Rather smart, I would say. It is tempting for small jurisdictions to be parochial, but experience from all sorts of disciples – music, politics, cuisine, medicine, sex, horticulture, literature, science and pretty much everything else one can think of – benefits from exposure to a certain amount of outside influence.
Ireland has perhaps the best drafted construction adjudication law in the world – it is high time it is deployed.
[1] Irish priest: What does ”mañana” mean?
Spanish priest: It means tomorrow. Or maybe in a week. Or perhaps in a couple of years. What would you say in Ireland?
Irish priest: I don’t think we have a word for anything that urgent.
[2] I am grateful to Arran Dowling-Hussey for this breakdown.