Law Society: Susan Denham ‘most transformational figure in history of Irish courts’

The Law Society of Ireland has hailed the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, as “the most transformational figure in the history of the courts system in Ireland”.

Michael Quinlan, senior vice president of the Law Society, spoke at the Chief Justice’s final sitting in the Supreme Court today in the absence of Stuart Gilhooly and Ken Murphy, who are both abroad.

Mr Quinlan said: “It is an honour to speak. But I think it is an honour for everyone present simply to be here today on this historic occasion. As indicated so eloquently by the previous speakers, you are the most transformational figure in the history of the courts system in Ireland.

“The first woman to be a Judge of the Supreme Court. The courts system’s greatest moderniser and reformer. The central figure in the introduction of the Courts Service. The central figure in the introduction of the Court of Appeal. A key figure, in addition, in the introduction of the Commercial Court. And a key figure also in the modernisation and liberalisation of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court across countless legal topics. The milestones of your unprecedented and unparalleled career stretch all the way to the horizon.”

He said the courts system had “changed beyond recognition”, adding: “And no one has done nearly as much to change it as you have.”

Mr Quinlan finished: “I know you mentioned to the Society’s Director General earlier this week that among your short term plans are that you and your husband, Brian, will travel to the Galapagos Islands. As Charles Darwin found when he first visited the Galapagos Islands in 1835, it is a timeless place that the rest of the world has simply passed by – come to think of it, much like the Irish courts were in 1971!

“I just hope that when you and Brian step onto the Galapagos Islands you can resist the habits of a lifetime and that you will not immediately form a working group and set in train a programme of modernisation!

“Let me conclude, Chief Justice, by thanking you, on behalf of the solicitors’ profession and their clients, not just for your reforming zeal but for your profound dedication to the principles of justice and, not least, for the kindness, respect and courtesy you have extended throughout your career to all who have had anything to do with you.”