Adrian Hardiman

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The Honourable Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, (born 1951) has been a justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland since February 7, 2000 before that he was a Senior Counsel for a number of years. Both as a junior counsel and senior counsel he was one of the leading members of the Irish bar and somewhat surprised many commentators by acepting judicial appointment at what by legal standards was a relatively young age.

1 Education
2 Family
3 Political Career
4 External links

[edit] Education

Educated by the Jesuits at Belvedere College, Dublin and University College Dublin (where he studied history) and Kings Inns. He was president of the Student Union at UCD and auditor of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin) and won The Irish Times National Debating Championship in 1973.

[edit] Family

His wife, Her Honour Judge Yvonne Murphy, from County Donegal, is a judge of the Circuit Court and was appointed on March 28, 2006 to Chair the Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy from, or attached to, the Archdiocese of Dublin between January 1, 1975 and May 1 2004. They have three sons, one of whom, Eoin, is a barrister (and a member of the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee) another, Hugh, is a personal assistant to Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform. Away from work they are understood to enjoy spending time in their holiday homes in Donegal and Spain.

[edit] Political Career

He joined Fianna Fáil in college and stood (unsuccessfully) for the party in the local elections in 1979. He was a founder member of the Progressive Democrats and left the party when appointed to the Supreme Court. He is still considered to be very close to the current Tánaiste, Michael McDowell TD.