Tony O'Connor (judge)

The Hon. Mr. Justice
Tony O'Connor
O'Connor in 2015
Judge of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2015
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMichael D. Higgins
Personal details
BornSwinford, County Mayo, Ireland
Alma mater

Tony O'Connor is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since October 2015. He began his legal career as a commercial solicitor, before becoming a barrister in 1991.

Early life

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O'Connor comes from a legal family, with his father and grandfather having run a firm of solicitors in Swinford, County Mayo.

He was educated at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, the Law Society of Ireland and the King's Inns.[1]

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He first worked as solicitor, qualifying in November 1983.[2] He qualified at and worked for Arthur Cox Solicitors.[3] He was later a legal adviser in Aer Lingus and a solicitor at Rory O'Donnell & Co. Solicitors.[4][5] His expertise was in competition law and mergers and acquisitions.[4] He authored a text on competition law in 1996.[6]

O'Connor was admitted to the Bar of Ireland in 1991 and became a senior counsel in 2006.[1] He had experience across civil, commercial and EU law.[1] He has also acted in cases involving constitutional law and personal injuries.[7][8] He appeared for the State against Ali Charaf Damache and acted for Irish Nationwide Building Society.[9][10] O'Connor also acted in maritime and fishing cases such as Gannon.[11][12]

He became an accredited mediator in 2009.[4] He has been the chair of the Aviation Appeals Panel and Mental Health Tribunals.[13][14] From 2007, he acted as legal assessor for hearings of the Medical Council, Nursing Board, Dental Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.[15] He also wrote about assisted human reproduction.[16]

O'Connor was a council member of Concern Worldwide.[17] He gave evidence to Seanad Éireann in 2013 regarding the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013.[18]

Judicial career

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O'Connor was appointed to the High Court in October 2015.[19] He has heard cases involving tax law,[20] extradition,[21] insolvency,[22] injunctions,[23] defamation,[24] personal injuries,[25] and commercial disputes.[26]

O’Connor heard a case in 2015 relating to a truck driver who was alleged by Greek authorities to have had contraband cigarettes among his consignment of olive oil when his truck was inspected in 2002. The truck driver was told over 10 years later that he owed €1.5 million to the Greek authorities which the Irish revenue was obliged to collect under EU law. O’Connor referred the case to the European Court of Justice under the preliminary reference procedure.[27] The ECJ in 2018 answered the questions posed and, in May 2018, O’Connor granted a declaration that the Irish Revenue could not fulfil the request of the Greek authorities to recover the sum sought.[28]

In 2018, he found for Graham Dwyer, the man convicted of the murder of Elaine O'Hara, ruling that the legislation relied on to secure his conviction was contrary to EU law.[29] The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Ireland, which in turn made a reference to the European Court of Justice.[30]

He is a member of the board of the Courts Service.[31]

In July 2020, he was appointed as a member of a three-judge tribunal into the CervicalCheck cancer scandal with chairperson Ann Power and retired judge Brian McGovern.[32] O'Connor continued hearing cases in the High Court during his time on the tribunal.[33][34]

O’Connor delivered judgment for the Court of Appeal in April 2022 which clarified the application of principles under the 2004 EU Citizens Directive.[35] In December 2022, he awarded €365,000 to a factory worker who had sustained a back injury.[36]

In 2023, O'Connor presided over the jury trial of a claim by a woman relating to sexual abuse she experienced as a teen.[37] That same year, he held that the Health Service Executive did not owe a duty of care to parents in a case about information given in advance of their daughter's death from cervical cancer.[38] In July 2023, O'Connor finalised the application by a claimant against the Christian Brothers for recovery of damages for child sex abuse.[39]

In 2024, he presided over the jury trial of Jimmy Guerin's defamation claim against Gemma O'Doherty and gave rulings about further publication.[40] Later that year, O'Connor refused an application to suspend the deliberations by a jury in an inquest into the fatal Stardust fire.[41][42]

As designated judge, he reported to the Taoiseach that there was "widespread evidence" of criminal organisations using encrypted communications on social media and messaging services to avoid detection.[43]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Appointments to the Supreme Court, High Court and District Court". merrionstreet.ie. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Solicitors qualify". The Irish Times. 18 November 1983. p. 14.
  3. ^ "Swinford man qualifies as solicitor in Dublin". Connaught Telegraph. 24 November 1983. p. 14.
  4. ^ a b c "MARITIME LAW CONFERENCE 2011" (PDF). leanbusinessireland.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  5. ^ "The Competition Law Bill 1991 - Preparing Irish Business". The Irish Times. 30 April 1991. p. 14.
  6. ^ O'Connor, Tony (1996). Competition law source book. Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 1858000483.
  7. ^ "Deaf brother and sister settle High Court action". Breaking News. 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Garda sergeant who had leg smashed awarded €67,000". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Muslim went on hunger strike over Irish prison conditions". independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Tuesday Newspaper Review - Irish Business News and International Stories - - December 15, 2009". www.finfacts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  11. ^ Gannon v Walsh [1998] 3 IR 245
  12. ^ "Final submissions in appeal over fishing rights on Moy". The Irish Times.
  13. ^ "Appeal Panel Decision" (PDF). aviationreg. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Former legal adviser to Labour called to High Court". independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  15. ^ McGee, Harry. "Iseult O'Malley to be appointed as Supreme Court judge". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Legal certainty on assisted reproduction needed". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  17. ^ Concern Worldwide Annual Report and Accounts 2013, page 10 https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/concern_annualreport2013_web.pdf Archived 2021-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "As it happened: Final day of the Oireachtas hearings on planned abortion laws". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). JAAB. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  20. ^ O'Donnell, Orla (20 December 2019). "Pizza firm loses appeal in delivery drivers' PAYE case". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Man charged in connection with double murder in Belfast". RTÉ News. 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Court approves appointment of examiner to Limerick FC". RTÉ News. 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  23. ^ "HSE secures injunction against IT worker over data". RTÉ News. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  24. ^ "Defamation actions over alleged Red Bull theft dismissed". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  25. ^ "High Court: Garda awarded over €40,000 for finger broken by violent detainee". Irish Legal News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  26. ^ "Row between medical negligence solicitors returns to court". Irish Legal News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Irish truck driver's case against Greek tax demand sent to ECJ". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  28. ^ "Truck driver wins action over €1.5m Greek tax penalty demand". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  29. ^ O'Donnell, Orla (6 December 2018). "Graham Dwyer wins legal action over phone data". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  30. ^ O'Donnell, Orla (24 February 2020). "Appeal in Dwyer case referred to EU Court of Justice". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Courts Service Board". Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  32. ^ "Two more judges appointed to CervicalCheck Tribunal". RTÉ News. 31 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  33. ^ "Politician's case against RTÉ is unstateable and should be struck out, court told". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  34. ^ "Appeal over €1.4m stamp duty bill on Walford should not be reconsidered". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  35. ^ "'Superficial' assessment of EU citizen's risk to State contained errors, appeal court finds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Man who injured back while lifting bag of pork awarded €365,000 in damages by High Court". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  37. ^ "Jury awards woman €177,000 damages for injuries arising from sexual abuse as underage teen". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  38. ^ "High Court: HSE did not owe a duty of care to parents in nervous shock case involving daughter's cervical cancer diagnosis". Irish Legal News. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  39. ^ "Christian Brothers may be shielding assets from sex abuse victim, High Court told". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  40. ^ "Jimmy Guerin, brother of Veronica, told 'life would be shortened', High Court hears". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  41. ^ "Stardust manager Eamon Butterly made High Court application before jury began deliberations at inquests". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  42. ^ "Eamon Butterly must pay legal costs of Stardust families relating to High Court application". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  43. ^ Correspondent, Cormac O'Keeffe Security (18 July 2024). "Gardaí and national security services 'need legal power' to access encrypted online messaging services". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 June 2025. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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