Judge Seβn Delap, who died on December 12th aged 71, exemplified the valuable contribution which district justices make to the administration of the law and, indeed, in the wider legislative arena. He made that difference while maintaining a warm and large personality for which he will be remembered and missed in the legal profession.
A Donegal man, he first came to the attention of the wider public in the 1970s when his judgments in family cases helped to redress the balance which at that time was heavily weighed against women.
The position of women was particularly poor regarding such issues as maintenance and protection against violence - from the perspective of today, indeed, it was a dark era.
Judge Delap sought to protect women and to secure a fair deal for them in the cases which came before him. The fact that he was doing this caught the imagination of the press and of campaigners on behalf of women's rights and in itself added strength to the movement for reform.
Most of Judge Delap's work, of course, concerned that exceptionally wide canvas of human misbehaviour and distress which is presented daily at district courts throughout the State.
In addressing this work he was a man of humanity. In 1999, in a radio interview, he declared that any alternative to the prison system would be welcome to the courts. He agreed that, in general, first-time offenders such as shop-lifters should not be given a custodial sentence - but made it clear that this attitude did not apply to professional shop-lifters.
He never ceased to be innovative - on a number of occasions he instructed persons convicted of being drunk and disorderly to sign in at a garda station, sober, on weekend nights. He was also the first judge to order the disconnection of water services, at Balbriggan District Court in 1995, at a hearing disrupted by chanting protestors outside.
He loved the Irish language and encouraged people to use their right to have their cases heard in Irish. He was frequently called to sit in courts in other districts because of his command of Irish.
He was a keen horse racing and GAA enthusiast. He was a founder and first president of Com≤rtas Peile na Gaeltachta which was first staged in 1969. He also served in various capacities on the officer board of Gaoth Dobhair GAA club of which he was a life president. He was a Donegal delegate to the Ulster Council of the GAA.
Seβn Delap was born in Gweedore in the Donegal Gaeltacht on September 8th, 1930 to Anthony and Bridget (nΘe Gallagher) Delap. His father was the station master in Gweedore. He went to two local primary schools, Dobhar and Torr, and got a scholarship to St Eunan's College, Letterkenny.
An indication of his academic prowess is that he then got a second scholarship to University College Galway where he was auditor of the college's Irish debating society and took part in the Literary and Debating Society debates. He never lost his connection with UCG.
But Donegal and a solicitor's practice beckoned and he was back in his native county in 1955 where he practiced in Dungloe and in branch offices in Gweedore and Bunbeg. It was during this time that he met his future wife - Teresa Doherty from Glasgow whose family was from Donegal - at a dance. They married in 1958 and had four children.
Seβn Delap became a judge of the district court in 1968, filling the vacancy left by the poet Donagh MacDonagh.
He was to remain a district court judge for 31 years. At first he was a "moveable" judge and could find himself sent anywhere - the Aran Islands, New Ross, Galway - but was appointed to the Dublin Metropolitan District in 1970. In the last 14 years of his career he sat at courts in Swords, Balbriggan, Rathfarnham and Tallaght.
It might be thought that this Donegal man who loved speaking Irish, the GAA and horse racing would feel himself out of place in Dublin. This, however, was not the case. He was content in Dublin and liked city people finding, indeed, that rows between Dubliners tended to blow over rather more quickly than rows between their country counterparts.
He retired in 1999 and was appointed as a refugee appeals authority to deal with appeals from people refused refugee status by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
He is survived by his wife Teresa; sons Antoin, Seβn and Breandβn; daughter Anne Marie and sisters, Sister Mary Teresa and Peig∅.
Seβn Delap: born 1930; died, December 2001