To give total power to an independent body would require a referendum as it’s in the Constitution that they have to be appointed by the President on behalf of the Government- i.e. the Government makes the decision.
There is an independent body already called the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board who advertise the Judicial jobs and draw up a list of recommendations to the Government. The Government does have discretion to appoint someone not from this list, but they must give a reason as to why they aren’t following the recommendations of the Board. So there is a level of transparency an independence to a certain extent.

This is an excellent choice for a judge, there is absolutely no doubt about his integrity, honesty and record of acting for the benefit of the Irish people against corruption and cronyism.

For more judges like him and sod who he ran for or didn’t run for.

Ah Jesus Unitedpeople Ireland! This man is responsible for ending Planet Bertie and tackling corruption when there was a complete blind eye turned by those in authority. He’s an example of what a private citizen can do in the face of such apathy. This country needs a lot more people with integrity like him.

@ Ignoreland

…And he is to be WELL congratulated for it.

I point out the bad way in which it looks to some that FG are again appointing people that haven’t not managed top get elected, are still given positions elsewhere by FG.

He may deserve the position and rightly so – however the people that put him there, by their apparent cronyism, do themselves no favours.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that he only got the job because he is an FGer. He has all the qualifications necessary, and putting up 10,000 pounds of your own money as a selfless act to root out corruption, is one of the best examples this country has seen of putting Ireland first. The FG affiliation is redundant as given his track record, I think he can be trusted to put Ireland first again.

Now all we have to do is have the same blackguards charged and go to trial …. That would be some feat !
Imagine if they were on trial in his court !Ok so that would not be allowed happen .
Congratulations and yes a nice reward for a job well done .

I have obviously no reason to dispute the mans integrity and suitability for the position nor is there any evidence to my knowledge to suggest that he is not a very suitable and appropriate candidate to be appointed to the High Court, however considering that “He is a council member of the Irish chapter of Transparency International” would it be fair to assume he would be interested in bringing more transparency to the political affiliations of those aspiring to hold judicial office and how their political affiliations ultimately determine their selection for such an office. Currently it seems that failure to allign with a political party renders one obsolete for selection to judicial office, every judge in the country effectively had to affiliate with a political party to be nominated a jugde. As many readers on this site will attest most of our political parties are not the type that most people would want to be affiliated with, yet that is the requirement to become a judge and adjudicate on the rights of Irish citizens, more transparency would be welcome surely in the interest of a transparent democracy.

fagan the judges in this country i would not trust with a parking ticket

So, to become a judge, you can’t at any stage have stood for election? He put his money where his mouth is.
An act of courage, far beyond placing a predictable comment under an anonymous self righteous pseudonym.

Kneejerk nonsense, unitedpeople.

How is this cronyism?. It most certainly is in the interest of the country to have this man as a judge, Personally i prefer if he was made head of a new Gardaí agency with responsibility for targeting corruption in politics and business.

Or in charge of a banking inquiry

@fagan’s
The issue at hand is what is the most appropriate and transparent procedure for a government to adopt in making judicial appointments. No? All the Establishment parties favour transparency, don’t they?