The former Chief Justice, Mr Justice Liam Hamilton, has died aged 72. The Supreme Court held a minute’s silence this morning. His successor as Chief Justice, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, said that he had presided over the Supreme Court bench with wisdom and compassion.
Liam Hamilton travelled a long road to the highest legal office in the State. One of five children from Mitchelstown in County Cork, he worked in the Civil Service and as a High Court clerk before studying law and being called to the bar in 1956. In 1974, he was appointed to the High Court, becoming its President eleven years later. In 1990, he became Chairman of the Beef Tribunal and drew criticism from some quarters for its length, cost and his reluctance to draw conclusions in the final report.
However, he returned to the Four Courts in 1994 as Chief Justice, where he was praised as a highly effective administrator. Shortly before his retirement, he had to examine the role of two judicial colleagues in the Sheedy Affair. His report in this case was described as drawing clarity from confusion. He left the Four Courts last January, but immediately began an inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings, a position he had to resign from recently because of illness. He is survived by his wife, Maeve, and three children.
