#InPictures: President appoints three new judges
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Pictured (left–right): Ms Justice Sara Phelan, President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Ms Justice Sara Phelan, Mr Justice Anthony M. Collins and Mr Justice Denis McDonald have been formally appointed as judges.
The three new judges were appointed by President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday following their nomination by the government in October.
Ms Justice Phelan’s appointment to the High Court comes just months after the end of her two-year term as chair of the Bar Council, during which she led the profession through an unprecedented withdrawal of services in October 2023 and July 2024 to pressure the government over legal aid fee restoration.
She was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the King’s Inns, and called to the Bar in 1996 and to the Inner Bar in 2013.
Pictured (left–right): Mr Justice Denis McDonald, President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Mr Justice McDonald, a High Court judge since April 2018, has been elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Educated at Trinity College Dublin and the King’s Inns, he called to the Bar in 1986 and to the Inner Bar in 2000.
He chaired the Irish Takeover Panel from 2010 until 2018.
Pictured (left–right): Mr Justice Anthony M. Collins, President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Mr Justice Collins, also appointed to the Court of Appeal, was an advocate-general of the Court of Justice of the European Union from 2021 until 2024, and before that a judge of the General Court of the European Union from 2013.
He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the King’s Inns, calling to the Bar in 1986 and the Inner Bar in 2003.
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