Mary Ellen Ring

The Hon. Ms. Justice
Mary Ellen Ring
Ring in 2015
Judge of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 July 2015
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMichael D. Higgins
Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
In office
August 2015 – 11 December 2021
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Preceded bySimon O'Brien
Succeeded byRory MacCabe
Judge of the Circuit Court
In office
20 April 2012 – 9 July 2015
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMichael D. Higgins
Personal details
Born (1955-04-10) 10 April 1955 (age 69)
Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Nationality
  • American
  • Irish
EducationNorwich Free Academy
Alma mater

Mary Ellen Ring (born 1955)[1] is an American-Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since July 2015. She previously served as Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission from 2015 and 2021 and a Judge of the Circuit Court from 2012 to 2015.

Early career

Ring was born in and grew up in Norwich, Connecticut in the United States with her Irish parents.[2][3] She attended the Norwich Free Academy, graduating in 1973, before moving to Ireland.[2] She studied Politics and Philosophy at University College Dublin and law at Dublin Institute of Technology.[4] She studied at the King's Inns and became a barrister in 1985. She became a senior counsel in 2002.[4] Her practice was primarily focused on criminal law, administrative law and child law.[5] She was counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions in the 2004 trial against Judge Brian Curtin for possession child pornography[6] and in the 2010 case against Eamonn Lillis for the manslaughter of his wife Celine Cawley.[7]

She was the chair of the Irish Women Lawyers' Association.[8] The organisation awarded her the title of Woman of the Year in 2018.[5] She co-founded the Children's Legal Centre and the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development.[4][3] She was appointed to the Advisory Group on Criminal Law and Procedure in 1996 by Minister for Justice Nora Owen.[9]

Judicial career

Circuit Court

Ring was appointed to the Circuit Court in April 2012.[4] She was assigned to the Dublin circuit.[10] She initially presided over Court Five, which was considered "by far the busiest circuit court in the country".[8]

She was the trial judge in case which found Heather Perrin, a judge of the District Court, guilty of deception.[11] She presided over the first trial of Seán FitzPatrick, related to an alleged failure to disclose loans to Anglo Irish Bank's external auditors at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.[12] She sentenced former Senator Ivor Callely to five months in prison in 2014 arising out of his filing of fraudulent expenses.[13]

High Court

She was appointed to the High Court in July 2015.[14]

GSOC

Ring became chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in August 2015.[4] She was reappointed in 2016.[15] She has been critical of the disciplinary procedures within the Garda Síochána.[16] She has sought to increase the numbers of personnel within GSOC since her appointment.[17] She was critical of the police force in May 2018 at a hearing of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality for not disclosing some internal investigations into gardaí to GSOC.[18]

Her term finished on 11 December 2021.[19]

References

  1. ^ Minihan, Mary. "Government appoints 12 new judges to courts". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Florin, Karen (18 August 2019). "Justice Mary Ellen Ring, from Norwich, sits on Ireland's high court". The Day. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Forget glass ceilings, build new houses says judge". Law Society Gazette. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Justice Mary Ellen Ring". GSOC. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring to be named Woman of the Year". Irish Legal News. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  6. ^ Coulter, Carol (22 April 2004). "Counsel opens case against Judge Curtin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  7. ^ Newenham, Pamela (4 February 2010). "Lillis sentencing hearing adjourned". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ a b Gallagher, Conor (19 May 2013). "Judge causes consternation – by working too hard". Irish Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  9. ^ Oireachtas, Houses of the (5 March 1997). "Written Answers. - Working Groups and Committees. – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 5 Mar 1997 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Appointments to the Circuit and District Courts". Irish Government News Service. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  11. ^ Gallagher, Conor; O’Keeffe, Cormac (29 November 2012). "Former judge jailed for deception of friend". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Jury discharged in the trial of Sean FitzPatrick". The Irish Times. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Ivor Callely jailed for five months for fraudulently claiming expenses". RTÉ News. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  14. ^ "President appoints Mary Ellen Ring as a Judge of the High Court". President of Ireland. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Appointments to Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission". Irish Government News Service. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  16. ^ Clifford, Michael (5 March 2018). "GSOC head criticises Garda disciplinary 'maze'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  17. ^ McMahon, Aine (7 November 2018). "Gsoc authorised to expand staff by 42". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  18. ^ Reynolds, Paul; McAllister, Edel (8 May 2019). "Garda superintendents call for clarification from GSOC chair". RTÉ News. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Cabinet approves nomination for Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission". www.gov.ie. Retrieved 13 December 2021.