A qualified barrister since 1997 and senior counsel since 2013, Mr Guerin practises mainly in public law, including criminal, regulatory and administrative law.

A native of Wexford town with a strong family connection to Co Clare, he was educated at St Peter’s College, Wexford and St Andrew’s College, Dublin before studying law at University College Dublin and Université de Nancy II in France. He qualified as a barrister at the King’s Inns.

He also has postgraduate qualifications in law from UCD (commercial law) and King’s College London (European law).

Mr Guerin, who is based at the Law Library in Dublin, has served for many years on the Bar Council’s professional practices committee and has been chair of the criminal State bar committee since 2022.

Commenting on his election, Mr Guerin said: “It is a great honour to be elected as chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland.

“The legal history of this State, in the hundred years since the enactment of the Courts of Justice Act 1924, has been characterised not just by an independent judiciary but by an independent referral Bar, with a proud record of providing the very highest standards of written and oral advocacy and advice to every client, regardless of personal interest or opinion.

“The values of integrity, ceaseless diligence, fearless representation, and excellence which created and sustain that record will continue to guide the Bar through the current changing legal environment.

“In a profession faced with significant structural and technological change and social, political, and economic pressures, there is a heavy onus on the Bar Council to articulate those values and to communicate the continuing importance of the profession of barrister to the maintenance of the rule of law and the protection of human rights.

“The Bar Council must also convey the attractions of that profession to talented young people, whatever their background, who aspire to share those values in a rewarding professional career.”

He added: “I am grateful to my colleagues for placing their confidence in me to make that case on behalf of the Bar of Ireland and I look forward to working with the members of the Bar Council and the wider profession, as well as all who care about the quality of justice in this country.

“I also want to express my gratitude to Sara Phelan SC, whose leadership of the Bar Council over the last two years has been an immense service both to the profession and the public interest.”