The Government has nominated two barristers for appointment by the President to the High Court and three solicitors for appointment to the District Court.
The new High Court judges are Paul McDermott SC and Iseult O’Malley SC.
Mr McDermott is a specialist in criminal law. Born in 1959, he is a graduate of UCD and the King’s Inns and was called to the Bar in 1980 and became a senior counsel in 1999. He is the author of a book on prison law and editor of a book on the law on misuse of drugs. He is a lecturer and external examiner in the King’s Inns.
Ms O’Malley also practises primarily in criminal law. She was born in 1964, educated in Trinity College and the King’s Inns and was called to the Bar in 1980. She became a senior counsel in 2007. Since 1985 she has been a director of legal rights organisation, Flac, of which she was chairperson.
She received an ESB Rehab Person of the Year Award in 2004 for her work with Flac. She was also chairperson of the Refugee Agency from 1993 to 1998 and a member of the Employment Appeals Tribunal from 1995 to 1998 and the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal during the same period.
Colin Daly managing solicitor of the Northside Community Law Centre in Dublin has been nominated to the District Court. Born in 1968, he qualified as a solicitor in 1997.
Educated in Queen’s University Belfast, he is a part-time lecturer in the Institute of Technology in Sligo and chair of the Limerick Law Centre Development Board.
Mary Larkin, principal and managing partner in Larkin solicitors, Gort, Co Galway, has also been nominated to the District Court. Born in 1953, she was educated in University College Galway and the Law Society, qualifying in 1976, and is an accredited mediator.
The third District Court nominee, John O’Connor, is a member of a well-known legal family in Co Mayo and principal and managing partner of John O’Connor solicitors in Dublin. He is a member of the Council of the Law Society. He is also an accredited mediator and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.