Tributes paid to Ms Justice Dunne on her retirement

On Friday 20 February, the full Supreme Court sat to hear tributes be paid to Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, the most senior ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, on the occasion of her retirement.  The ceremony saw all eleven Judges of the Supreme Court, including the ex officio members, joining Ms Justice Dunne for her final sitting.  Tributes were paid first by the Chief Justice, who acknowledged her “extraordinary” judicial career in the Circuit, High and Supreme courts which spanned 30 years.  Chief Justice O’Donnell went on to describe Ms Justice Dunne as “calm, thoughtful, low key, efficient and understated” as well as being a “kind, generous and sympathetic person, unfailingly helpful to her colleagues”. 

Following the Chief Justice, tributes were paid  by the Attorney General Rossa Fanning SC, the President of the Bar Council Mr Seán Guerin SC, the President of the Law Society Ms Rosemarie Loftus, the CEO of the Courts Service Ms Angela Denning, the Secretary of the Judicial Council, and the Registrar of the Supreme Court Ms Mary Kelly.  These tributes made reference to high profile cases presided over by Ms Justice Dunne throughout her career, but also to her family, her career at the Bar, and even an appearance on The Late Late Show in 1986 as part of a special episode to increase public awareness about the upcoming divorce referendum. 

Ms Justice Dunne was appointed to the Circuit Court in 1996, the High Court in 2004, and finally the Supreme Court in 2013.  Upon her appointment in 1996, Ms Justice Dunne became just the second female Judge of the Circuit Court in Ireland.  Alongside her judicial duties, Ms Justice Dunne additionally served as Ireland’s correspondent to ACA Europe (a European network of superior administrative courts), chair of the Judicial Council’s Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee, and Chair of the Courts Service Board.

The tributes paid by the Chief Justice to Ms Justice Dunne can be read in our speech archive here.