Mr Justice John Murray is to succeed Mr Justice Ronan Keane as Chief Justice. Mr Justice Keane retired earlier this week.
Mr Justice John Murray
The Government formally announced the appointment this afternoon.
Mr Justice Murray (61), has been a Supreme Court judge since 1999 and served as Attorney General to three Fianna Fáil governments in the 1980s.
The Limerick man has considerable international experience having served as a former judge of the European Court of Justice. He also served on the Council of Supreme Administrative Courts and Councils of State of the EU and chaired the Ethical Committee of the European Commission.
He is well respected in academic circles and has been visiting lecturer at a number of universities in both Europe and the US. He was vice president of the International Association of Judges and honorary co-chair, International Law Institute in Washington D.C. he was also visiting Professor of Law, at the Université de Louvain in France.
Apart from Irish and English, he speaks French and Italian and is described in Who's Who in Irelandas "a highly respected attorney general; said to possess a cool and concise legal brain and a good sense of humour."
He has been considered a "high-flyer" throughout his career and was appointed attorney general at the age of 38, when Mr Justice Patrick Connolly resigned in dramatic circumstances.