A SENIOR official with the Department of Justice has been appointed as director of the Equality Tribunal.
Niall McCutcheon replaces Melanie Pine who retired last month. Her retirement was followed by a public competition organised by the Public Appointments Service.
Mr McCutcheon was a principal officer in justice for the past 10 years, with responsibility for diversity, equality and human rights matters. He was also a member of the board of the Equality Authority, co-chair of the National Traveller Monitoring Committee, national liaison officer for lesbian and gay issues and chair of the group overseeing the National Action Plan against Racism.
He was also Ireland’s representative on the European Commission’s governmental expert group on non-discrimination and national liaison officer with the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency.
Mr McCutcheon was born in Dublin in 1955 and educated in Oatlands College, UCD and Dublin Institute of Technology, from which he obtained a BA in law in 2008. He graduated in politics and economics from UCD.