THE GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to nominate four serving Circuit Court judges for appointment to the High Court to fill some of the seven vacancies that will arise once judges are appointed to the new Court of Appeal.
Once the vacancies arise on the High Court, formal nominations of the four will take place. The four nominated are Judge Carroll Moran, Judge Mary Faherty, Judge Raymond Fullam and Judge Carmel Stewart.
Judge Carroll Moran enrolled as a solicitor in 1970 and has experience as a solicitor in barrister in both civil and criminal law. He was appointed as a judge in the Circuit Court in 1997 and presided on the Cork, Western and Midland circuits until 2002 before being permanently assigned to the South Western Circuit. Moran was the judge in a recent case in which independent Kerry candidate Dan Kiely sought to view spoiled votes as part of a recount in the local elections. Kiely had lost to Fine Gael councillor Mike Kennelly by just two votes but lost his appeal.
Judge Mary Faherty worked as a lawyer here and in England and Wales in the past. She was chairperson of the Employment Appeals Tribunal from 1995 to 2002 and was appointed judge of the Circuit Court in 2002. She was also appointed as a member of the Mahon Tribunal in 2002.
She was also elected as a judge of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal in 2011 and served as its president from 2012 to 2014.
Judge Raymond Fullam was called to the bar in 1977 and practised on the Eastern and Dublin Circuits until 1995. He also worked as a criminal prosecutor for County Kildare for eight years.
In 2007 he was appointed as a judge to the Circuit Court and has also served as a member of the Drugs Appeal Board of the GAA since 2002.
Judge Carmel Stewart has had extensive practice as a Junior and Senior Counsel in a number of notable cases in constitutional and public law. She has been previously hired to work as an external solicitor by the government. Stewart has also served as chair of the Family Lawyers’ Association and vice chair of the Employment Appeals Trubunal. In 2012 she was appointed to the Circuit Court.
The nominations were agreed by the government and announced on Budget Day yesterday.
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