THE INTERIM HEAD of An Bord Pleanála, Peter Mullan, has been officially appointed as the planning board’s new chairperson.

Mullan, formerly a senior civil servant in the Courts Service and Department of Justice, has been serving as An Bord Pleanála’s interim chairperson since September 2023. He had been first made a temporary Board member in January 2023.

“The Government have today agreed to the appointment of Mr Peter Mullan as the new Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála, following an open recruitment process,” a government press statement said this afternoon.

“Mr. Mullan, who is currently interim Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála, will now take up the position on a permanent basis.”

Mullan was previously an Assistant Secretary in the Courts Service, an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Justice and Equality, and Chief Prosecution Solicitor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In November 2022, former chairperson Dave Walsh announced his early retirement, citing “personal and family reasons”.

Oonagh Buckley, Deputy Secretary General at the Department of Justice, was temporarily made interim chair after his retirement.