Irish Women Raising the Bar

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Justice Mary Irvine was appointed as President of the High Court on June 12 by President of Ireland Michael D Higgins. She is the first woman to hold the position - or even be nominated for it - and her designation comes almost 100 years after women were first allowed to enter the Irish bar. “She will bring the qualities of independence, deep legal knowledge and insight that have characterised her distinguished career as a judge,” said Law Society President Michele O’Boyle. “I welcome in the warmest of terms this nomination of Ms Justice Mary Irvine both as an outstandingly able judge and as the first woman in history to hold this absolutely key role in the Irish judiciary.” Her appointment as a High Court judge was made in 2007, the Court of Appeal in 2018 and the Supreme Court last year. The Dublin born legal eagle entered the Bar in 1978 and became a Senior Counsel in 1996. She was the secretary of the Bar Council of Ireland in 1992 and was elected a Bencher of the King’s Inns in 2004. Before her legal life she was also a promising golf player, having won the Irish Girls Close Championship in 1975. She may be the first female to smash the barriers that have traditionally blocked women from reaching the top of the Irish legal system, but she will not be the last. Justice Irvine is the apex of a wave of female lawyers and judges coming through the ranks. Figures from the Irish Court Service show that in 1996 just 13% of all judges in the legal system were women. Top: Seal the deal; President Michael D. Higgins - and right former Taoiseach Leo Vadakar - appointed Justice Mary Irvine as President of the High Court of Ireland. Above: Justice Mary Irvine

Today they make up 38%. Four of nine Supreme Court judges are women, as are eleven of 40 at the High Court, seven of 15 at the Court of Appeal and 16 of 38 in the Circuit Court and 23 of 63 in the District Court. Of Ireland’s 167 judges, 63 are women, each of whom is carving out their own legacy in a legal system which owes some credit to the original female trailblazers. According to the Irish Law Library Averil Deverell and Frances Kyle were the first women to be called to the Irish Bar in November 1921.

Ciara’s legal legacy Ciara Eilish Glennon was not born in Ireland, but she was Irish. She was delivered in a bush hospital in Zambia to parents Micheal from Westport, Co. Mayo and Una, from Monaghan who had moved to Africa to teach. The family relocated to Perth when she was around five and it was here that she grew up, went to school and university, spent her formative years and looked set to have a good life and promising career at the Bar. She was a bright, free spirited and fun loving person. Having obtained a law degree and a masters in Japanese from the University of Western Australia, and a job with Ashurst - a respected local law firm, at the age of 26 she did what hundreds of thousands of other young Australian’s did, she took a year out to travel and see the world. She visited Israel, Greece and Turkey before finishing her adventures with a six week stint with relatives in Ireland. Ciara returned to Perth in February 1997 for her sister Denise’s wedding in March. She returned to her old job and wearing a Claddagh brooch she went out in Claremont on Friday March 14 with co-workers for after-works drinks and an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration. She left her friends in the pub around midnight to get home to Mosman Park. The last time she was seen alive, she was trying to hail a taxi to get home. Her family became immediately concerned for her safety and it was three weeks later that her body was discovered in Top: Ciara Glennon. Above: L-R Denise Glennon, Denis Glennon, Tayu Wilker (2019 scholarship winner) and Una Glennon bushland in Perth’s far north. Ciara’s family, law firm and alma mater were quick to honour her with a lasting tribute. The Ciara Glennon Memorial Law Scholarship was set up in 1998 to help full time UWA law students financially. Scholarship winners get $10,000 and a clerkship at Ashurst and every year since then it has helped many young bright and earnest people to get a good footing in a profession they believe can help to make the world a better place for those seeking justice. Last years winner, Tayu Wilker, said she was humbled to receive the award from the family personally. “I think that is a huge compliment and honour to say that ‘we see how these aspects of her are positive in you as well," she said. “What they are doing is so extraordinary, to have suffered a great tragedy and want to bring so much good in the world is something else.”

Justice for Ciara, Sarah and Jane The trial of the man accused of allegedly killing Ciara, Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer concluded on June 25, exactly seven months to the day since it started. At almost every one of the 95 sitting days in the Supreme Court, the families of these young women watched, listened and endured their own private pain in the public and uncompromising setting of a courtroom and the media in the hope that at the end they will get justice for their daughters. DNA evidence from Ciara’s final act of fighting back could prove to be critical clue, but that is now for Justice Stephen Hall to consider in his verdict, due to be handed down at the latest by September 24. It will be 24 years since the killer ripped their lives apart.