John Eoin MacMenamin (born 25 November 1952) is an Irish judge who was a judge of the

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between 2012 and 2022. He was previously a judge of the High Court from 2004 to 2012 and a barrister.

Early career

MacMenamin was born in Dublin in 1952 and educated at Terenure College. He studied history at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, where he was involved with the UCD L&H. He subsequently attended the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

. He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1975, and became a Senior Counsel in 1991. He was a council member of the

Free Legal Advice Centres Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) is a non-profit human rights organisation that provide pro bono publico assistance via a network of legal advice clinics throughout the Republic of Ireland. They have been involved in a number of notable law cases ...

while studying. While working at a FLAC centre in

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, he spoke to the mother of a young defendant who had not had representation and initiated contact with other lawyers on the matter which eventually led to the case ''State (Healy) v Donoghue''. The case established a constitutional right to legal aid in criminal cases. At the bar, he had a mixed practice, with an emphasis on administrative law, defamation and commercial law. He represented the '' Sunday Independent'' in a libel case taken by Proinsias De Rossa and again in the first blasphemy case taken since the country's foundation in '' Corway v. Independent Newspapers''. He was a legal adviser to the

Medical Council of Ireland The Medical Council ( ga, Comhairle na nDochtúirí Leighis) is the regulator of the medical profession in Ireland. It maintains the register of medical practitioners licensed to practice, and has the power to place restrictions on or revoke suc ...

and was involved in a long-running case involving neurosurgery at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. He appeared for several clients at the

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of cor ...

and for the Department of Education at the Laffoy Commission. He was Chairman of the Bar Council from 1997 to 1999. During his tenure, there was an increase in the fees paid to barristers taking part in the criminal legal aid scheme, following a dispute between the government and the barristers. He was a member of the board of the

VHI The Voluntary Health Insurance Board ( ga, An Bord Árachais Sláinte Shaorálaigh) — which trades under the brand name Vhi Healthcare, and is still commonly referred to in Ireland as "The Vhi" – is the largest health insurance company in I ...

between 1995 and 1997.

Judicial career

High Court

He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 2004 on the same day as future

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

colleagues Frank Clarke and Elizabeth Dunne. He presided primarily over

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

and constitutional cases. He was a member of the Special Criminal Court from 2009. Towards the end of his time at the High Court he was the Judge-in-Charge of the Minors' List, dealing with sensitive cases involving children.

Supreme Court

He was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2012. In January 2020, he marched in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, with other senior judges from across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

arising out of issues surrounding the

2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. He carried letters of solidarity from the Association of Judges of Ireland. MacMenamin retired in November 2022.

Personal life

He married Lia O’Hegarty, a lawyer, in 2004, in

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. They have one daughter. He was formerly involved with

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

, working as speechwriter for

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

and a lead adviser to Michael Noonan during the 2002 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmenamin, John 1952 births Living people Irish Senior Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Alumni of University College Dublin Lawyers from County Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns People educated at Terenure College People from Ranelagh 20th-century Irish lawyers 21st-century Irish judges