BY lunchtime yesterday some barristers were already heading to their cars in the Four Courts car park, carrying bulging briefcases and some with little round boxes containing their wigs.
The law term was over and will not resume until October 7th. Outside the door of the Law Library there was an end of term atmosphere, as barristers exchanged good wishes for the summer before rushing to a last minute consultation, a last ditch attempt to reach a settlement, or the first leisurely lunch of the vacation.
Around the corner in the Circuit Criminal Court, there was only one court sitting. The grimy yellow walls were defaced with graffiti and in court 16, identified only by crude letters drawn in ballpoint on the wall outside, a witness fiddled nervously with a pencil while counsel for the State discussed a point of law with the judge.
On the other side of the Four Courts building it was business as usual on the top floor of the new red brick building, which houses the family law Circuit Court. The corridors around it were crowded with litigants and their lawyers.
There were 36 cases listed there yesterday before Judge Pat Smith. Of these over 20 were just mentioned and adjourned. But there were 15 motions - where people sought the solution of a particular problem prior to the full hearing of the case - to be heard that day.
People who came to court for the first time yesterday were getting a date in November 1997 for their case to be heard. They will somehow have to function with their broken, but legally unresolved, relationship until then.
There was little enthusiasm among lawyers yesterday for a shorter holiday. One pointed out that barristers had to catch up on paper work, write opinions, and generally deal with matters they did not have time for during term time.
Vacation time is also the time that judges write their reserved judgments. In any case, there will be a judge in the Four Courts throughout the vacation for emergencies, and there are regular vacation sittings of the High Court. There is an increasing amount of litigation in September.
There are hopes that much of the backlog will be dealt with by the 11 new judges appointed by the Government, who start work in October. But no one is yet sure where they will sit.
Some will go on circuit down the country. Two new courts have been built in the building housing the Special Criminal Court, and one in the Land Registry building and more may be created over the summer.