High praise for High Court appointee

Judge Peter Kelly has been hailed as an unexpected but inspired appointment as President of the High Court

Mr Justice Peter Kelly, who was last week appointed President of the High Court in a surprise moveAidan Crawley

The tipsters got it wrong. Despite his high profile, Mr Justice Peter Kelly was ranked as an outsider in the running to be appointed as the next President of the High Court.

Received wisdom was that the honour was destined for either Court of Appeal judge George Bermingham or former Chairman of the Referendum Commission Justice Kevin Cross, both Fine Gael stalwarts.

But the cabinet’s surprise decision to favour Kelly for the third ...