WARM TRIBUTES have been paid by solicitors, gardaí and court officials to Judge Michael Pattwell as he retired after serving 21 years as a District Court judge in Cork, Tipperary and Waterford.
Judge Pattwell, from Clonakilty in west Cork, was appointed to the District Court in 1990. He sat on the bench for the last time yesterday at Fermoy District Court having spent the last 13 years in District No 20 in north and east Cork.
Joining him for a photograph on his last day were his wife Mairéad, his daughter Niamh, his niece Sinéad McSweeney, the Garda director of communications, and her husband, barrister and Irish Timescolumnist, Noel Whelan.
Also joining him were Judge Uinsin Mac Gruairc, Judge Terence Finn and Judge Gerard Haughton who, on behalf of his colleagues, described Judge Pattwell as “a good friend, a brilliant lawyer and a particularly good judge”.
“You have always been straight down the middle with defendants and prosecution. You have dispensed justice in a fair manner with wisdom and compassion and you are greatly respected among your colleagues and that’s the greatest accolade that can be given to anyone,” he said.
Solicitor Declan Carroll, on behalf of local practitioners, said Judge Pattwell’s court could never be described as “dull and boring but was always lively”. He was a good listener – the most important attribute of a judge, he added.