Mr Justice Thomas Clement Smyth, the judge who has been brought into the spotlight by Liam Lawlor's clash with the Flood tribunal, is a relative newcomer to the High Court, appointed as a judge in 1996.
He has dealt with several planning controversies during his legal career.
As a senior counsel, he specialised in planning and local government cases. He was involved in several high-profile legal battles, including the Bula Mines case in the early 1990s, which is one of the longest in the history of Irish litigation. Other major planning cases included the development of Wood Quay and the Office of Public Works interpretative centres.
A fellow judge and planning law expert, Mr Justice James Macken, described Mr Justice Smyth last night as "extremely sharp, quick to seize the point, and a very hard worker. He is known for his love of brevity. He could say in half-an-hour what it would take someone else all day to say."
Mr Justice Smyth is from Dundalk, Co Louth, where his father was the town clerk. He was educated in CBS, Dundalk, and later in Limerick. He attended UCD, where he became Secretary of the L&H debating society. According to former class-mates he would recite the minutes of the society's previous meeting in verse.
He qualified as a solicitor in 1963 before becoming a barrister five years later. He was called to the Inner Bar in 1977.
He has served on the English and Northern Ireland Bars, though concentrating on his practice in Dublin.
Mr Justice Smyth lives in Sutton with his wife, Patricia. They have four children.