Two judges of the Court of Appeal are to be nominated by the Government to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court.
Judges Niamh Hyland and Brian O’Moore are the nominees agreed to replace Judge Elizabeth Dunne, who retired last week, and Judge Peter Charleton, who is due to retire in April.
The nominations mean the nine-member Supreme Court will be comprised of three female and six male judges.
Following nomination by the Government, the judges will be formally appointed on a later date by President Catherine Connolly.
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Their appointments will be the first to be made to the Supreme Court under a process conducted by the Judicial Appointments Commission, established in January 2025.
Chaired by the Chief Justice, the nine-member commission comprises four judges and four lay members, with the Attorney General a non-voting member.
The commission operates under the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023, which is aimed at ensuring a transparent, merit-based process for judicial appointments.
The process required those interested in the Supreme Court positions to formally apply to the commission which, after conducting interviews, recommended five names for Government consideration.
Hyland, who was called to the Bar in 1994, was appointed a judge of the High Court in 2019. In October 2024, she was promoted to the Court of Appeal.
O’Moore was called to the Bar in 1984 and became a judge of the High Court in late 2019. He was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal almost four years later, in October 2023.
