Dave Ellis: Dave Ellis, who died on February 2nd after a short illness, was a prominent member of the civil legal aid and community law movement who devoted his career to working with marginalised individuals and communities.
In particular, in his work as a community law officer with the then Coolock Community Law Centre (now Northside Community Law Centre) from 1977 until 1998, he had a major influence on the development of legal aid services in Ireland. A modest and unassuming man, he had a warm personality, great integrity and a wicked sense of humour.
Born in 1949 to Doris and the late George Ellis, he attended Kingstown School, Dún Laoghaire, before graduating in law from Trinity College Dublin in 1972. He was admitted to the roll of solicitors in October 1974 before moving to London where he worked for Harlesden Advice Centre for a number of years. In 1977, he returned to Ireland to work as Ireland's first community law officer in the Coolock Community Law Centre (CCLC) which had then recently been established by the Free Legal Advice Centre to demonstrate how law might be used strategically to protect disadvantaged communities. A key element of this vision was the empowerment of local communities and as community law officer, one of Dave Ellis's first tasks was to establish links between the law centre and community organisations in Coolock with a view to setting up a community-based management committee. He had this committee in place within a year and in May 1979 it took over full responsibility for the running of Ireland's first, and for many years, only, community controlled law centre.
He pioneered new ways of working with the law and also pioneered working in new areas of the law.
He introduced the concept of community legal education, courses in which citizens were informed of their rights in key areas of the law. So novel was this at the time that the first such course attracted the attention of the national newspapers. He also devised and implemented a schools' project whereby talks were given to pre-employment year students in local schools on such issues as employment rights, taxation and welfare rights. In time, as more advisory agencies came on the scene, he moved on to "second-tier" work, providing those agencies with the legal resources that they needed to work effectively with their clients.
He also lobbied the political system on behalf of the local and wider community. He wrote ground-breaking reports on the operation of the social welfare appeals system and on civil legal aid; he drafted countless submissions proposing reforms of various aspects of employment law, public housing law and social welfare law. During his time there, CCLC campaigned with other organisations on such issues as divorce, the legal position of lone parents, homelessness and, of course, legal aid. Apart from his work with CCLC, he played a key role in the establishment of Ireland's second community law centre in Ballymun in 2002, as a key player on, and advisor to, the management committee which commenced the campaign to open the Law Centre in 1999.
During more than two decades working with CCLC, Dave Ellis developed considerable expertise in areas of the law relevant to low-income communities. In particular, he had an exceptional knowledge of Irish social welfare law, representing thousands of welfare claimants in their dealings with the welfare authorities.
In 1998, he left CCLC and subsequently established Community Legal Resource (CLR), a co-operative of researchers with legal and social policy expertise working with community and voluntary groups. Under the CLR umbrella, he provided information, training and support to service providers within the broader voluntary and community sector. Much of his work with CLR was devoted to promoting good practice both in the delivery and the management of these services. In CLR, he continued his pursuit of social justice with a commitment and enthusiasm which never dimmed and which inspired others who worked with him.
Dave Ellis was an extraordinarily kind and generous person who undertook so much work for voluntary and community groups at a modest rate and often on a pro bono basis. He shared his knowledge freely and believed wholeheartedly in social justice and in the possibility of social change. He touched the lives of very many people in statutory, voluntary and community organisations around Ireland. Although fiercely committed to his work, he was always entertaining, gregarious and humorous company during work and when the work was done. In his spare time, he was a very talented painter and a lover of music, in particular jazz. He was also a loyal Shamrock Rovers supporter and an enthusiastic birdwatcher.
He is survived by his wife and soulmate, Sarah, who shares his commitment to community empowerment and social justice, his beloved mother, Doris, and his brothers, John and Brian.
Dave Ellis; born April, 1949; died, February 2nd, 2007.