Eileen Barrington SC nominated to join Legal Services Regulatory Authority

The Honorable Society of the King’s Inns has nominated Eileen Barrington SC to sit on the Legal Services Regulatory Authority after its previous nominee withdrew.

Nicholas Kearns was previously named as one of the 11 members of the new authority, which meets for the first time next month.

However, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told Irish Legal News that Mr Kearns has “since become unavailable”, prompting the King’s Inns to nominate a replacement.

Ms Barrington’s appointment was approved by the Dáil this week and is due to be approved by Senators before her official appointment.

The spokesperson told ILN: “The nomination of Eileen Barrington SC to be a member of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority arises simply due to the fact that the initially approved nominee of the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns since became unavailable and an alternative nominee of that body had to be identified.

“The King’s Inns is one of the ten prescribed nominating bodies for membership of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and the relevant bodies are intended to represent a balance between the interests of the legal profession and those of consumers of their services.

“The King’s Inns was therefore invited to propose alternative nominees for membership once their initial nominee stepped aside and was no longer available.”