Mr Harris appeared alongside Bar Council chairman Seán Guerin SC at the event, which took place at the Distillery Building on Tuesday.

Building on the success of the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Lecture in April and the O’Connell 250 Symposium at Trinity Long Room Hub in July, the evening brought together leaders in law and public life for a reflective discussion on O’Connell’s enduring legacy in civil rights, democratic reform, and the rule of law.

In his address, Mr Harris said: “The Liberator built the first mass-democratic movement in the modern world and advanced principles that outpaced his era.

“[Daniel O’Connell’s] universalism remains the core of his legacy. His assertion that ‘my sympathy with distress is not confined within the narrow bounds of my own green island’ defined a human-rights ethic that cut against prevailing interests.

“His rejection of ‘blood-stained money’ from slaveholders showed the cost he was willing to bear for principle.

“Anyone committed to the rule of law, human rights, democratic legitimacy, and European solidarity stands on ground he created.”

Mr Guerin said: “O’Connell had a deep and profound understanding of the constitutional role of an independent bar.

“As we remember O’Connell 250 years after his birth, we of course remember the work that he did for Catholic emancipation and the work he did as a barrister for individual clients.

“But for us as a profession, we remember his ability to express and to personify the immense contribution an independent Bar makes and that contribution is one that is worth reflecting on.

“The importance of that principle remains absolutely vital today.”