Tributes to the outgoing President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, on his appointment to the Supreme Court, were made in the High Court yesterday when he dealt with proceeds of crime cases.
Ben Ó Floinn BL said that, on behalf of his colleagues who regularly appeared before the president, he wanted to pay tribute to a truly hard-working judge and President of the High Court.
Despite all the demands in handling lists of complex and difficult cases he had always been very courteous, good humoured and a very just judge, counsel said. Despite the sheer demand and volume of the work, the judge had always kept a good atmosphere in court through a "superhuman effort", he added.
Mr O'Floinn said the Supreme Court's gain was very much the High Court's loss and he wished the judge success in his new role.
Mr Justice Finnegan thanked counsel for his comments saying: "If you are treated with courtesy, it is much easier to be courteous in return." Hopefully over the next few years he would be able to concentrate on other aspects of judicial work and make a contributiothere, he added.