Fact File
Name: Susan Denham.
Age: 53.
Born: Dublin.
Occupation: Supreme Court judge.
Why is she in the news? Her report on the Courts Commission is held to offer solutions to the recent judicial crisis, and she is now mentioned as a future Chief Justice.
Most likely to say: What needs to be done?
Least likely to say: Give me a ring and I'll see about that relisting.
As everyone careered towards unprecedented impeachments of judges by the Oireachtas recently, politicians and lawyers were reaching for the same security blanket. The Denham report was used like a mantra - as the magic formula to ensure we never looked into such an abyss again.
They were referring to the report of a Working Group on a Courts Commission, chaired by Mrs Justice Denham, which drew up recommendations on the setting up of an independent Courts Service to run the courts.
It also examined a host of other issues relating to the legal system, including how to regulate judges' conduct. Fortuitously, this report was presented to the Minister for Justice last November, and when the Sheedy affair blew up he could turn to its recommendations with relief, confident they had the support of the judiciary and the legal profession.
However, those familiar with the report stress that the reason everyone refers to it is because it answers the questions. "It does deal with all the problems, and anticipated a lot of them," said one. "There was never more thinking done about managing the courts and the legal system, and she handled it brilliantly. She was particularly good at anticipating the sensitivities of people."
One of the results of the Sheedy affair is that Mr Hugh O'Flaherty will not now become Chief Justice, as had been widely expected. The position will become vacant when Mr Justice Liam Hamilton retires within the year.
The Government might seek a breathing space and appoint a senior Supreme Court judge, like Mr Justice Keane, or the High Court President, Mr Justice Morris, neither of whom are young enough to serve out a full term. The name of former Attorney General Mr John Murray, now a judge of the European Court, has also been mentioned as a contender, while Mr Justice Geoghegan would be a popular choice.
But the Sheedy affair has thrust Mrs Justice Denham to the fore, and the Government would be sure of winning brownie points if this time it departed from the practice of appointing someone close to the ruling party. It would gain extra points by appointing a woman and someone from a Protestant background.
Mrs Justice Denham has never been directly linked to any party. Her relations with the Labour Party were strained when her name was put forward for President of the High Court by Dick Spring amid the controversy over the appointment of Harry Whelehan, which ultimately brought down the Fianna Fail/ Labour Coalition.
She was not consulted before her name was mentioned and she did not want the job. She was not pleased to have her name dragged into the controversy, and her displeasure was made known.
The fact that she was elevated to the Supreme Court - its first woman member - by Albert Reynolds would indicate her appointment would be favoured by at least some in Fianna Fail.
Mrs Justice Denham is seen as a liberal, and gave the sole dissenting judgment in the Attorney General and SPUC versus Open Door Counselling case. As a High Court judge she participated in a conference on women and safety, and is interested in finding a way to report family law cases.
But her areas of expertise are much wider than this. Before her elevation she was regarded as an expert on judicial review and extradition matters, and she acted as counsel for the State in the Ellis, Glenholme and Finucane extradition cases. Following her High Court appointment, she developed her knowledge of all areas of the law. "She's grown into every job she's undertaken," said one senior counsel.
If she does get the call, either this year or in the future, it will not surprise her friends. "You always knew she was going somewhere," said a college friend. "She was very ambitious. She always wanted to go in and do things at the top end. She was always very multi-active, always doing other things."
At Trinity, where she studied Legal Science, her activities included involvement in the fledgling Free Legal Aid Centres initiated by progressive law students, where one of her colleagues was the present Attorney General, Mr David Byrne SC. She was also one of the founders of the Archaeology and Folklife society, of which she quickly became president.
The eldest child of the former editor of The Irish Times Douglas Gageby, she comes from a family with a tradition both of non-conformism and public service. Her father, from a Belfast Protestant family, served in the Army before entering journalism, and her maternal grandfather, Sean Lester, was the last secretary-general of the League of Nations.
Her brother, Patrick, also a barrister, has been quoted describing her as "bossy", perhaps an inevitable attribute of an eldest child. She is tough, her closest friends agree. "There's iron in the soul all right," said one lawyer, who added: "Awfully nice and kind. I like her very much."
She is married to paediatrician Brian Denham, and they have four children. She is probably the only Supreme Court judge to be found filling a supermarket trolley on Saturday mornings, and her house is full of her children's friends at weekends.
She is very fond of dogs and horses and, according to one friend, brought Dalmatian dogs into Ireland. "Her world was always full of animals and lots of things to do," said this friend.
Described as immensely practical, she is quick to seek solutions. "We all hired a boat on the Shannon one year," recalled her friend, "and a man fell in at a weir. Sue was in the water like an arrow, without waiting to see exactly where he was or what were the currents. That's Sue - head for the solution."
It is hard to find people prepared to criticise her. The worst thing said about her, according to one senior counsel, is that she is "too good to be true", though he added that the jury is still out on whether, as a judge, "she is as brilliant as some of her supporters might suggest".
It is also pointed out that much of her time as a Supreme Court judge has been spent on the Courts Commission, so she has not had as much opportunity as she otherwise might to develop new law.
She would be very young to be appointed Chief Justice, although, under a reform proposed by her working group, she would serve only seven years, which might make it easier for the Government to appoint a younger judge. Before this, an appointment to this position was until retirement or death.
The question is - would she want the job?
"She's always said `no'," said a friend, "but if duty called . . . "