Four judges to be promoted to High Court

The Government has nominated four Circuit Court judges for appointment to the High Court.

At today's cabinet meeting, ministers selected judges Carroll Moran, Mary Faherty, Raymond Fullam and Carmel Stewart to fill four of the vacancies that will arise on the High Court when the Court of Appeal is formally established later this month. A further three imminent vacancies on the High Court have yet to be filled.

Judge Carroll Moran, a Circuit Court judge since 1997, qualified as a solicitor and barrister. He was educated at UCD and became a solicitor in 1970 before being called to the Bar five years later. Experienced in civil and criminal law, he was editor of the Irish Reports from 1993 to 1997.

As a Circuit Court judge, he presided on the Cork, Western and Midlands Circuits form 1997 to 2002 and was permanently assigned to the South Western Circuit in 2004.

Judge Mary Faherty came to public prominence as a member of the Mahon planning tribunal, where she was one of three judges from 2002 onwards. Educated at the University of Freiburg in Germany, University College Galway and the King's Inns, she was called to the Bar in 1986 and took silk in 2001. She was chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal from 1995 to 2002.

Judge Raymond Fullam, who qualified as a barrister and a chartered accountant, has been a Circuit Court judge since 2007. He was called to the Bar in 1971, became a senior counsel in 1995 and practiced on the eastern and Dublin circuits from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. As a barrister he had a general practice, with a focus on revenue law. While serving on the bench, he has been a member of the Courts Service’s audit committee and a member of the GAA’s Drugs Appeal Board.

Judge Carmel Stewart has been a Circuit Court judge since 2012 and has mostly been assigned to the Dublin Circuit. Educated at University College Galway and King's Inns, she became a barrister in 1987 and took silk in 2008. As a barrister, she had a general practice and was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including that taken by Ms A, B and C - whom she represented - in their abortion case at the European Court of Human Rights. She is a former chair of the Family Lawyers' Association and a former vice-chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

The vacancies on the High Court will formally arise when seven of the court's current members move to the new Court of Appeal later this month. The seven who are to be promoted are judges Seán Ryan, Peter Kelly, Mary Finlay Geoghegan, Michael Peart, George Birmingham, Mary Irvine and Gerard Hogan.

The new court is expected to be formally established on October 28th.

In the High Court last week, the president of the court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said he was having difficulties allocating cases because of the Government's delay in naming new judges for the court.