Government nominates five new High Court judges

Five senior counsels including three women are to be nominated by the Government for appointment as High Court judges by President Michael D Higgins.

The Irish Times understands Emily Egan, David Holland, Caroline Biggs, Marguerite Bolger and Cian Ferriter are the barristers to be nominated.

The Chief Justice and the presidents of the four other courts held discussions in recent months with senior civil servants, following complaints by president of the High Court Ms Justice Mary Irvine about a shortage of judges.

She said the High Court alone was in a “desperate scenario” and needed 17 new judges.

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Judges are appointed by the President, on the advice of the Government.

Ms Egan is a barrister who has been practising for more than 20 years. She studied law at Trinity College Dublin, graduated in 1991 and obtained a post-graduate degree at Oxford University.

She was called to the bar in 1994 and was appointed senior counsel by the Government in 2010. She practises mainly in the areas of healthcare and medical law, administrative, constitutional and regulatory law. She also advises a wide range of statutory bodies.

Specialises

Mr Holland was called to the bar in 1987 and was made a senior counsel in 2003. His areas of practice include general practice and judicial review.

He specialises in environmental law, medical law, planning and local government law, professional negligence, and regulatory law.

Ms Biggs was made a junior counsel in 1997 and has been a senior counsel since 2009. Her areas of practice include criminal law and general practice.

Ms Bolger is a senior counsel specialising in employment law and has appeared in many of the key employment cases before the Irish and European courts.

She is a founder member and former chairwoman of the Employment Bar Association of Ireland.

She is also the current vice chairwoman of the Incorporated Council for Law Reporting of Ireland, as well as a member of the editorial boards of the Irish Employment Law Journal and the Employment Law Reports.

Mr Ferriter was made a junior counsel in 1998 before he went on to become a senior counsel in 2011.

Separately, the Government agreed to nominate Patricia Cronin for appointment as an ordinary judge to the District Court. The vacancy arises following the retirement of Judge Flannan Brennan on August 18th.