The Government’s nomination of Siobhán Stack SC for appointment as a judge of the High Court means 13 of the court’s 41 judges are now women.
Three judges of the nine member Supreme Court are women and the 16 member Court of Appeal has eight female judges, meaning women now account for more than one third of superior court judges.
A native of Limerick, Ms Stack, a graduate of University College Cork and the University of Cambridge, was called to the Bar in 1995 and became a senior counsel in 2013.
Her areas of practice included Irish constitutional and administrative law, judicial review and commercial/chancery cases. Her areas of specialisation included several areas of EU law, equality and immigration law and she regularly represented the State in high-profile immigration cases.
Her nomination for appointment was announced after a vacancy was created by the retirement this week of Mr Justice Bernard Barton. With the retirement later this year of Mr Justice Kevin Cross and Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon, further appointments to the High Court are expected.
The Government has also nominated Judge Paul Kelly for appointment as president of the District Court. The opening arose after Colin Daly was appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court.
