Ireland’s Legal Services Regulatory Authority has published its seventh annual Pathways to the Professions report, recording growth in both entry to professional training and qualification as a solicitor or barrister during 2025. The figures show that 581 trainee solicitors and 139 student barristers began professional training, increases of 7 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. First-time practising certificates were issued to 583 newly qualified solicitors, a 54 per cent increase on 2024, while 150 barristers were called to the Bar, an increase of 10 per cent. At the end of 2025, Ireland had 16,089 practising legal professionals, comprising 12,961 solicitors and 3,128 barristers.
The report also highlights continued demand for flexible routes: almost one in five new solicitor trainees used the part-time PPC Hybrid course, and more than twice as many student barristers enrolled on the modular two-year course as on the full-time programme. The LSRA notes that flexible provision is attracting mature entrants and people without traditional law backgrounds, while also identifying the concentration of training contracts in Dublin and large firms as an issue relevant to the future nationwide availability of legal services.