JUSTICE MINISTER HELEN McEntee has announced the appointment of Dr Linda Mulligan to the position of chief State Pathologist.

Dr Mulligan had been filling the position as interim chief State Pathologist following Professor Marie Cassidy’s retirement in 2018.

“I am both privileged and excited to take on this important role and follow in the footsteps of my esteemed predecessors,” Dr Mulligan said. 

“I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges of establishing our new team and developing a strategic plan for the office, with a firm focus on continuing to provide the highest quality national forensic pathology service to the coroners, An Garda Síochána, the criminal justice system and, most importantly, to the families of the deceased.”

Minister McEntee said she was very pleased that a person of Dr Mulligan’s calibre has been appointed, describing her as an “accomplished and highly professional” consultant forensic pathologist with over 18 years’ experience in forensic pathology, histopathology and clinical medicine. 

“I know the expertise, professionalism and empathy of our pathologist team makes a huge difference to bereaved families in the most difficult circumstances,” McEntee said. 

“Dr Mulligan’s deep experience will be of huge value in this vital role and I wish her well in her work and in her continued leadership of the Office.”

Dr Mulligan was appointed following an open competition run by the Public Appointments Service – a recruitment change that came about following Dr Cassidy’s retirement.

In 2019 the Royal College of Physicians conducted a review of the Office of the State Pathologist (OSP) and recommended that roles be appointed as a result of a competitive process after it raised concerns about the office’s ability to provide assistance in homicide investigations due to the staffing shortages.

The review of the State’s forensic pathology service found that the OSP was facing serious staffing difficulties after the vacancy of Chief State Pathologist had not been filled since the retirement of Dr Cassidy in September 2018 while Deputy State Pathologist, Michael Curtis retired the following summer.

It noted at the time that there was only one Deputy State Pathologist, Linda Mulligan, and an external locum to deliver a service that in previous years had required a rota of three full-time forensic pathologists plus an external locum for cover.

Minister McEntee is expected to announce further appointments to the OSP in the coming weeks.

Former State Pathologist Professor John Harbison passed away on 18 December last year. He became the state’s first forensic pathologist in 1974, retiring in 2003.