THE GOVERNMENT HAS nominated six country registrars as new specialist judges of the Circuit Court who will be responsible for  deciding personal insolvency cases as the new scheme is rolled out in the coming months.

The Cabinet agreed to the appointment of the six registrars – subject to approval from the President – at its weekly meeting yesterday with the new judges – made up of five solicitors and a barrister – earning €140,623 annually.

These judges will be responsible for considering insolvency applications and have been appointed for the specific role in other to ensure a speedy adjudication process.

As a result of the appointment of county registrars, the overall number of country registrars in the State will drop from 23 to 17 with work redistributed following consultation with serving registrars, the government said.

The six nominated country registrars are:

1. Mary Enright, a Law Society educated solicitor who has previously worked for Edward A. Kelly & Co, Francis J. O’Mahony & Co, and James Fagan & Co. She was appointed County Registrar for Kilkenny in 1985.
2. Verona Lambe, a UCD educated solicitor, formerly with Gerard I. Lambe who has also run a sole practice and worked for the Legal Aid Board as well as Patrick V Boland & Co. She was appointed Country Registrar for Offaly in 2001.
3. William Lyster, who is a Bachelor of Commerce, a former solicitor with Lyster Forde & Co and a County Registrar for Roscommon since 1997.
4. Patrick Meghan, who was educated at Trinity, the Law Society, Kings Inn and UCD, and was called to the bar in 1975. He has worked as an arbitrator and is a former sole practice solicitor, and coroner for West Limerick. He has been country registrar for Limerick since 2000 and is current Vice Chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal and a former chairman of the County Registrar Association.
5. Mary O’Malley, a UCD educated former solicitor at Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s former practice Gallagher Shatter as well as with John C. Walsh & Co, Dempsey & Co, and Steen O’Reilly & Co. A lecturer at the Incorporated Law Society since 1986, he has been County Registrar for Meath since 2007 and a member of the committee of the County Registrar’s Association.
6. Susan Ryan, a NUI and Law Society educated former solicitor with John Rochford & Co, Eugene F. Collins & Co, and a County Registrar for Dublin from 1999 to date. She is also a member of the Circuit Court Rules Committee.

Read: New insolvency guidelines protect banks at borrowers’ expense – opposition

Read: Struggling borrowers may have to move house, sell car and change creche to enter new insolvency process

PIC: How much a single person can spend under the new insolvency rules

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