Appointments

The Bar of Northern Ireland has appointed Sinead McIvor as its new policy and communications manager. Ms McIvor heads up the policy and communications team, which manages the internal and external communication on behalf of the Bar of NI as well as public affairs and stakeholder engagement activitie

McCann FitzGerald LLP has announced the promotion of three of its senior associates to of counsel. Those promoted are Lesley Caplin, who specialises in media defence and commercial litigation; Aidan Gleeson, a corporate banking specialist with extensive experience in acting for lenders and borrowers

Ogier Leman LLP has announced the appointment of Laura Holtham as partner in the firm's banking and finance team. Previously working with the firm as a banking and finance consultant, Ms Holtham has several years of legal experience across a variety of finance transactions, focused on structured fin

Dara Calleary has been appointed as minister of state for trade promotion, digital and company regulation at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Mr Calleary, the Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo since 2007, has served in a number of government roles in the past, including a brief stint

Jamie Olden has been appointed as the next managing partner of RDJ LLP. He will succeed Richard Martin who has been managing partner of the firm for 10 years and steps down from the position on 30 September 2022.

Barrister and architectural expert Kyle Leyden has been appointed to Northern Ireland's Historic Buildings Council (HBC). The HBC, established in 1974 and currently constituted under section 198 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, aims to provide independent advice to the Department for Com

Moira Smyth QC is the new chair of the Bar of Northern Ireland, beginning a two-year term ahead of the start of the new legal year next week. Ms Smyth, who succeeds Bernard Brady QC, was called to the Bar in 1996 and took silk in 2014. Most of her work as a barrister is in the field of family law.

Belfast law firm Millar McCall Wylie (MMW) has brought four new trainee solicitors on board. Cathy Kerr will join MMW’s banking and finance team from Queens University Belfast; Patrick Boyle joins the firm’s litigation department from Ulster University; the corporate law team welcomes Mo

More than a dozen people have been appointed to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) as adjudication officers. Following two open competitions in 2021, a total of 14 individuals were appointed as adjudicators in July 2022, a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment tol

Professor Ursula Kilkelly, one of Ireland's leading scholars on children's rights, will take up a visiting position at Leiden Law School in the 2022/2023 academic year, the university has announced. Professor Kilkelly, a professor of law at University College Cork, will serve as rotating honorary ch

Justin Kouame, former chair of the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, has been appointed to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC). Mr Kouame, who is also a former member of the Northern Ireland Race Equality Sub-Group and Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Min

Kevin O'Brien, former chair of ComReg, has been appointed as a member of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Mr O'Brien has more than two decades' experience in senior regulatory and public policy roles in Ireland and abroad. Before joining the CCPC, he was head of consumer po

Cork-based commercial law firm J.W. O'Donovan LLP Solicitors has announced the appointment of Michelle Cross, Patricia Canty and Daphne Madden as associate solicitors. Ms Cross joins the firm's corporate and commercial department, having completed her training contract with the firm after previously

Climate law expert Dr Orla Kelleher has joined Maynooth University as an assistant professor in law. A specialist in in climate change, environmental and human rights law, Dr Kelleher's current research focuses on environmental rights, climate litigation, climate justice and just transitions.

Conleth Bradley SC will lead the first part of an urgent review of An Bord Pleanála, the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has announced. The OPR has initiated a review of certain systems and procedures used by An Bord Pleanála in the delivery of its statutory planning functions.