“All four belong to Mary.”

The Chief Justice said that she and Mary had known each other for decades, having been in the same 1971 class at King’s Inns.

As part of that class Mary Laffoy received the John Brooks Scholarship for the highest overall marks -- an early indicator of her intellect as a lawyer.

She became a Senior Counsel in 1987 and was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1995.

Hallmark

The Chief Justice continued “Her ability as a lawyer was a hallmark of her career as a judge.  Her judgments are models of clarity, her precise and careful use of language will be resorted to for years to come, and relied upon by future generations as confidently as the many opinions on title which she provided as a barrister.

“Indeed, she brought out the best in practitioners.  People did not want to fall below her high standards.

“Mary has delivered judgments which have been at the core of the development of our law.” 

The Chief Justice referred to numerous landmark cases including McGrath v Trintech Technologies [2004] IEHC 342 in which Justice Laffoy held that the principles governing an employer's liability at common law for physical injury should be applied equally to liability for psychiatric injury resulting from stress in the workplace.

She said that Justice Laffoy had been a wonderful colleague: meticulous, very hard working, great fun, kind and considerate.

'Justice Laffoy had been a wonderful colleague: meticulous, very hard working, great fun, kind and considerate

“When Mary was part of the formation, you always knew that any errors would be spotted and gently pointed out,” she said.

Justice Laffoy said that she had made an “executive decision” not to name names while saying her thank yous, for fear of leaving someone out, “even if it could be seen as forgivable as this stage of my existence”.

She said that she is utterly tech-deficient and that one of her colleagues had understandably suggested she be called “Judge Ludd”

Tribute

Thanking her support staff, she paid tribute to the great assistance she had received from judicial researchers and called for more funding for these posts.

“On the basis of my own experience I have real appreciation of the importance of judicial researchers. I would strongly urge that the participation of judicial researchers in our work should be developed and that funding should be made available, and every effort made to make the positions attractive, so that suitable candidates will continue to be interested in these positions.”

'I would strongly urge that the participation of judicial researchers in our work should be developed

Justice Laffoy said it had been a privilege to participate for the past few decades in the administration of justice. She expressed her gratitude to all those who had made her life easier doing what she called a hard and time-consuming job which often eats up bank holidays and weekends.

“To those I leave behind at every level of the courts I say, keep up the good work.”

President of the Law Society Stuart Gilhooly said that Justice Mary Laffoy was a feminist icon and a standard-bearer and pioneer for woman at the bar.

Keen soccer fan Stuart also said he was looking forward to seeing Justice Laffoy at the next  Republic qualifying match.

Justice Laffoy had earlier explained that she was really looking forward to attending the match in the autumn because “most of my bank holidays for the past twenty years have been absorbed in working”.