Seán Ryan is a judge of the Irish High Court.
As a barrister, he was Senior Counsel to the inquiry into abuse in the Catholic diocese of Ferns (the Ferns Report),[1] and was chairman of the Compensation Advisory Committee that prepared guidelines on compensation to be paid to abuse survivors at the Residential Institutions Redress Board.[2]
In September 2003 Seán Ryan was selected to head the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse following the controversial resignation of the previous chair, Justice Mary Laffoy,[3] who claimed her work had been systematically obstructed by the Department of Education.[2] The government appointed him a High Court Judge, without seeking a recommendation from the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board,[4] "to guarantee that the integrity and independence of the chairperson will be maintained."[1]
Justice Seán Ryan published the Commission's public report on 20 May 2009 and it was immediately hailed as "a work of incalculable value to this country"[5] and praised for its "meticulous gathering of evidence",[6] though "Justice has not been done as many of the abusers will never face the rigours of the law."[7]