Supreme Court sits to commemorate late Judge Hardiman

All nine judges of the Supreme Court sat on the bench alongside the President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Sean Ryan, and the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly.

Mr Justice Hardiman’s seat was left vacant.

The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Susan Denham, said: “His eloquence in conference, his depth of knowledge, his humour, but most of all his friendship, will be sorely missed by each member of the court.”

Tributes have also poured in from other parts of the profession.

David Barniville SC, chair of the Bar Council of Ireland, said: “Mr Justice Hardiman was a colossus at the Bar and on the Supreme Court and was highly regarded and deeply respected by all who knew him. He was arguably the leading advocate of his generation at the Bar and one of Ireland’s finest jurists.

“While at the Bar he practised across a vast range of specialist areas including crime, defamation, Constitutional and commercial law. While on the Supreme Court he sat on nearly every significant constitutional case heard by that Court, leaving an indelible mark on Irish history.”

Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society of Ireland, said: “With the untimely passing of Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, the Irish people have lost a fierce protector of their rights against any overreaching by the power of the State.”

“As one of the most brilliant barristers of his generation, he was a powerful, punchy and highly persuasive advocate. Fearless, fluent and articulate, he could think on his feet to handle with ease whatever was thrown at him.”

“As a judge, since his appointment in 2000, he was driven by a deep passion for justice as is evidenced by his many landmark judgements.”