Judge John O’Connor, who was appointed a judge of the District Court in 2012 and of the Circuit Court earlier this year, made the comments in an article published by the Irish Judicial Studies Journal.

Although the Children Act 2001 provides that judges should “participate in any relevant course of training or education which may be required” before practising in the Children Court, he said there were shortcomings in practice.

Judge O’Connor wrote: “Though this envisages that judicial training and education should precede a person taking up position in the Children Court, there is no elaboration on the type of training, level of experience and expertise required of judges up for appointment to the Children Court.

“It appears that this is another area where law and practice fail to coincide, with no formal training on youth justice being made available to the judiciary.”

He added that the “lack of legal training in Ireland, particularly in the context of childhood issues, can give rise to unintended adverse consequences for children from both a justice and welfare point of view”.