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Courts Service centenary podcasts now available

The Courts Service says that the full set of five podcasts it has produced to commemorate the centenary of the Courts of Justice Act 1924 is now available to download for free. 

The podcasts look at the operation of the courts over the last century and feature major figures and cases from the past 100 years. 

The Courts Service says that it hopes that the podcasts will have broad appeal not only to those in the legal community, but also to members of the public.

‘Human-interest’ side of the law 

Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell described the coming into force of the 1924 act as “a really significant milestone” in the life of the new State. 

“The aim, when we set out to brainstorm the topics for these podcasts, was to curate a series that would capture the human-interest side of law and bring to life some of the stories, big and small, that have taken place against the backdrop of our courts system, and in their own ways have impacted Irish society,” he stated. 

The titles of the podcasts are: 

• From Revolution to a New Court System: Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan of the Supreme Court,
• Eileen Kennedy, Ireland's first woman judge: Dr Eoin O’Sullivan (School of Social Work and Social Policy); Pól Ó Murchú (solicitor), Judge Patricia Cronin (District Court); Maura O'Looney (retired Probation Officer),
• Healy v Donoghue and DPP v Gary Doyle: Mr Justice Frank Clarke (retired Chief Justice); Mr Justice John MacMenamin (retired judge of the Supreme Court); Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly (Supreme Court judge); and James Dwyer SC,
• The Julia Clarke Case; Gaol for a Kiss: Niamh Howlin (Associate Professor at the UCD Sutherland School of Law) and Mary McAuliffe (historian, lecturer, and Director of Gender Studies at UCD),
• The David Norris Case: Mary McAleese (former President of Ireland), Colm Tóibín, and David Norris. 

The series of centenary events is being complemented by an upcoming book containing lectures and academic thoughts about the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the courts in 1924.