FIANNA FÁIL TDs Willie O’Dea and John McGuinness were among the politicians who made representations for lawyers subsequently appointed to the judiciary, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
Representations made by TDs to the minister for justice of the day include a letter from Fine Gael’s Michael Noonan to Michael McDowell, although the person on whose behalf Mr Noonan contacted Mr McDowell was not successful. The documents relate to District, Circuit and High Court positions from 1998, following the commencement of the Freedom of Information Act, to date.
Mr O’Dea, then a minister of state at the Department of Justice, wrote to Mr McDowell in 2004 on behalf of Eamon O’Brien, whom he said had “expressed an interest in being appointed as a judge of the Circuit Court”. Judge Eamon O’Brien is a moveable judge of the District Court.
Mr McGuinness, now chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, wrote to John O’Donoghue in 1998 on behalf of Gerard Furlong, “who is seeking an appointment on the District Court bench”. Mr McGuinness said he wished to support the applicant’s case and would appreciate the support of Mr O’Donoghue in the matter. Judge Gerard Furlong is also a moveable judge of the District Court.
Letters were released with the names of the lawyers redacted in cases where they were not appointed to the judiciary. Independent Senator Feargal Quinn wrote to Dermot Ahern in 2008 on behalf of a woman whom he said had applied for the position of District Court judge, “and her proud father . . . is hoping that she will succeed”.
Mr Noonan, in his 2005 letter to Mr McDowell, said he was “not sure if it is appropriate” for him to recommend “a very well regarded solicitor” to the Judicial Appointments System to be considered for appointment as a District Justice. “He has a very strong social commitment and in my opinion would make an excellent District Justice,” Mr Noonan said.
In 2007, when Tom Kitt of Fianna Fáil was government chief whip, he wrote to Mr McDowell saying he had recently met with David McHugh “who has expressed an interest in becoming a District Court judge, and asked if I could forward a copy of his curriculum vitae to you for your consideration”. Judge David McHugh is one of the Dublin Metropolitan Judges on the District Court.
Mary Coughlan, then a minister of state at the department of arts, heritage, Gaeltacht and the islands, wrote to Mr O’Donoghue in 2001 on behalf of Miriam Reynolds, the Circuit Court judge who died in 2009. Michael O’Kennedy of Fianna Fáil, in a 2001 letter to Mr O’Donoghue, said of the man he was representing: “He is a very fine guy and looks a lot younger than his age!”
Then minister for tourism, sport and recreation, Jim McDaid wrote to Mr O’Donoghue in 1999 on behalf of Seán MacBride, now a Provincial Judge of the District Court.
A 1998 letter from Gerard Collins, then an MEP, to Mr O’Donoghue, refers to “an excellent solicitor by the name of Tim Lucey in Kanturk who is most anxious to be considered for appointment to position in the District Court”. Mr Collins continued: “He has very high credibility and is regarded by everyone as a person of high integrity. He is now about 50 years plus and in my view would make an excellent judge”.
Judge Timothy Lucey is a moveable judge of the District Court.
Under the Court and Court Officers Act, 1995, the government, when advising the president on the appointment of a person to judicial office, must first consider those who have been recommended by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.
