A judge has described the ongoing criminal legal aid row as a “mess’ after being forced to adjourn two sex-abuse trials for which the accused in one case and two complainants in the other had travelled to Ireland to attend from abroad. At Ennis Circuit Court on Thursday, Judge Francis Comerford made his comment after adjourning trial dates for the two cases into the autumn due to no legal representation in each case. It relates to the solicitors’ dispute with the Department of Justice over a new flat rate fee of €520 introduced for District Court cases.In one case on Thursday, a man charged with the indecent assault of a sister 41 years ago had flown in this week to face trial.In the second case, a 91-year-old man is facing indecent assault charges against two women from more than half a century ago. The two complainants had flown in this week for the trial.The judge had adjourned the two cases from Tuesday to Thursday in case there was a development in the criminal legal aid dispute that would allow the trials proceed.However, he said he did not see any sign of resolution “other than the impasse continuing in the short term” and adjourned both cases to July 31st to fix a trial date for later in the year.In the case concerning the 57-year-old Co Clare man charged with the indecent assault of his sister, Comerford said: “I just don’t see the reality of this case being dealt with in these sessions, and I will put it back to the call-over. It is really unfortunate.”The accused was first brought before the District Court in 2025 after he was arrested returning home for a family funeral. The complaint dates back to 2013.The accused was aged 16 to 17 and the complainant aged seven to eight at the time of the alleged offences in 1984 and 1985.In the other, separate case, the man faces eight separate charges concerning the alleged indecent assaults of two women between 1973 and 1975.Comerford adjourned both cases to July 31st to fix dates for the trials in the Autumn.