Ms Justice Mary Irvine

Ms Justice Mary Irvine, class of 1974, President of the High Court

Past pupil Ms Justice Irvine, is the first woman to hold the post of President of the High Court. She was previously a judge of the Supreme Court, having been appointed to the State’s highest court last year from the Court of Appeal (COA), where she had served as a judge since the courts establishment in 2014. Prior to that she had served as a judge of the High Court since 2007. As president of the High Court, she will remain an ex-officio member of the Supreme Court.

Though it is the third most senior judicial post after the chief justice and the president of the COA, the presidency of the High Court is in many ways the most influential role in the courts system.

Ms Justice Irvine is responsible for the operation of the High Court system, where the vast bulk of important court cases are heard, and for the allocation of judges to particular lists.

Called to the Bar in 1978, she became a senior counsel in 1986 and specialised in medical negligence cases.