THE GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to nominate Justice Donal O’Donnell as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

O’Donnell has been nominated for appointment to the role by President Michael D. Higgins later this year.

The role is being vacated on 10 October after the retirement of current Chief Justice Frank Clarke.

O’Donnell, who was called to the Bar of Ireland in 1982, was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2010.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Laws from University College Dublin, a degree of Barrister-at-Law from King’s Inn and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia.

O’Donnell is the chair of the Judges’ Library Committee. He was a director of Our Lady’s Hospice from 2009 to 2014 and a member of the Law Reform Commission from 2005 to 2012. 

Additionally, the government is nominating Judge Anthony Collins for appointment as an Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Collins is to be assessed be a panel set up under Article 255 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union which will consider his suitability for the role.

“The nomination was made by Government following a process whereby an expert panel assisted in identifying persons interested in the nomination for the post, considering their suitability and reporting to Government,” a statement said.

Collins would replace current Advocate General Gerard Hogan, who was nominated for appointment as an Ordinary Judge of the Supreme Court.

If appointed, Collins would serve the remainder of Hogan’s term, which expires on 8 October 2024.

Collins has been a Judge at the General Court of the European Union since September 2013, having previously been Senior Counsel at the Bar of Ireland from 2003 to 2013.

He was the Director of the Irish Centre for European Law at Trinity from 1986 to 1990 and 1997 to 2003.

He holds a Barrister-at-Law from King’s Inn and a B.A. (Mod.) in Legal Science from Trinity.