Ken Casey, Chair

It remains one of the most popular of the Law Society’s member services, and with good reason. The Gazette has, for many years now, occupied a position of quiet indispensability in the working lives of Ireland’s solicitors. It continues to earn its place on the desk, on the screen, and in our inboxes.

Its remit is targeted: to provide timely, considered, and in-depth coverage of legal news and developments across the profession. This it achieves through a suite of three complementary channels – the monthly print magazine, the daily news service at Gazette.ie, and the weekly Gazette Digest – each working in concert by serving a distinct readership and keeping members informed of the most important legal developments.

In 2024, the Law Society set out a clear and ambitious strategic direction, to develop services that are more personalised and more precisely targeted to the needs of individual solicitors. The aim is to help them thrive both in practice and across the arc of their careers. Taking this direction to heart, the Gazette has sharpened its editorial focus, producing articles of specific relevance to solicitors working in smaller firms, medium-sized practices, larger firms, and within the in-house sector. This is not a matter of simply broadening coverage for its own sake, but of recognising that the profession is not a single, undifferentiated body – that its members’ needs vary considerably, depending on where and how they practise.

The numbers suggest that the strategy is working. The daily news service, Gazette.ie, logged 1,308,671 views in 2025 (up 3% on the previous year), with 508,514 active users. The engagement rate was an incredibly strong 83.5%, with a bounce rate of just 16.5%.

Digital PDF issues of the Gazette magazine were downloaded 12,526 times (+1% over 2024), while the engagement rate was a high-performing 91%, with a very low bounce rate of 9%. The Gazette’s coverage of legal-themed conferences and updates on legislative changes have been proving highly popular with our readers – and our coverage is regularly picked up by national and regional media.

It is also worth noting the extent of the Gazette’s reach beyond these shores. Readership figures show the top five countries outside Ireland, by share of readership, to be:

• UK: 9%
• United States: 7%
• China: 2%
• Singapore: 1.5%
• Germany: 1%

This spread reflects a readership that stretches well beyond the domestic profession.

In the year under review, the Gazette continued to spotlight the work of the Law Society’s committees, with the aim of illuminating the often unheralded work they undertake on behalf of the profession. This series will continue well into 2027, in order to cover the full range of committees that underpin the Law Society’s valuable work.

Looking to our ‘green’ credentials, the printed Gazette is fully recyclable, printed on carbon-balanced, FSC-certified stock, and is distributed in 100% compostable bio-film – ensuring that the Gazette’s impact on the environment is minimal.

I wish to express my gratitude to the members of the Gazette Editorial Board for their commitment during the past year and for the expertise and insight they continue to bring to the editorial direction of the Law Society’s publication of record.

Finally, particular thanks are due to the Gazette’s editor Mark McDermott and his entire team, whose continued dedication to excellence – in both content and design – underpins everything that the Gazette achieves.