Edmund Honohan Explained

Edmund Honohan
Office:Master of the High Court
Term Start:14 May 2001
Term End:8 April 2022
Nominator:Government of Ireland
Predecessor:Harry Hill
Successor:Vacant
Nationality:Irish

Edmund Honohan (born April 1952)[1] is an Irish barrister who was the Master of the High Court from 2001 to 2022.

Early life

Honohan is from Glasnevin and is the brother of Patrick Honohan.[2] He was called to the Bar in 1975 and became a senior counsel in 1995.[3] He was involved with Fianna Fáil early in his career, where he assisted with the writing of the party's manifesto for the 1977 general election. Bertie Ahern was selected ahead of him to contest the 1977 election in Dublin Finglas.[4] He advised the Minister for Economic Planning and Development Martin O'Donoghue between 1977 and 1979. He acted in cases involving company law, judicial review, chancery, employment law and personal injuries.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Master of the High Court

He was interviewed for the position of Master of the High Court in 2001 and was appointed in May 2001.[10] He succeeded Harry Hill.[11] He unsuccessfully asked to be nominated to the European Court of Justice in 2008 and the Supreme Court of Ireland in 2014.[12] [13]

He criticised the regulation of solicitors in 2005.[14] In 2018, he used a hammer to a break a window in the Four Courts due to his concerns over the ventilation in the Master's Court.[15] [16] [17]

He retired in April 2022.[18]

Debt cases

Since the post-2008 Irish economic downturn, much of his case load has involved debt enforcement and repossession cases, often dealing with up to 200 cases a week.[19] [20] According to the Business Post, he has been considered a "debtors' champion".[21] The President of the High Court Peter Kelly transferred the hearing of motions to seek final judgment in debt enforcement proceedings from the Master to judges of the High Court in January 2019.[22]

The High Court granted an injunction in 2014 restraining him from acting upon a referral he made to the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding alleged perjury by Allied Irish Banks in a debt recovery case.[23] Iseult O'Malley later held in 2015 that he had no power to make such a referral and quashed his order to strike out the action.[24] [25] [26]

In 2018, Honohan drafted the National Housing Co-Operative and Fair Mortgage Bill, which he provided to Fianna Fáil. It sought to stop the eviction of homeowners in arrears until the house was sold and to provide for co-operatives to purchase such houses.[27]

Notes and References

  1. News: Births, Marriages, Deaths . The Irish Times . 29 April 1952 . 11.
  2. News: Respected economist with wide experience . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . 4 September 2009 . en.
  3. News: Master of High Court appointed . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . 9 May 2001 . en.
  4. Book: Ahern . Bertie . Bertie Ahern: The Autobiography . 2009 . Arrow . 9780091931322 . 34–35.
  5. News: Purchase of shares in print company disputed . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  6. News: Court challenge to plan for Kill allowed . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  7. News: Reilly . Miriam . Expenditure on property on foot of testator's promise creates an equity . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  8. News: Diplomat refused order for allowances challenge . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  9. News: Army deserter has case for alleged hearing loss dismissed with costs . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  10. Web site: Parliamentary Questions . Justice.ie . 20 February 2022.
  11. News: Ex-Master of the High Court and champion cricketer . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  12. News: Ahern was lobbied for promotions to judiciary . 20 February 2022 . independent . en.
  13. News: Tighe . Mark . Master's five pleas in bid to become judge . 20 February 2022 . The Times . en.
  14. News: Master of High Court calls for reform of legal complaints system . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times.
  15. News: Master of High Court defends breaking courtroom windows . 20 February 2022 . RTÉ News . 15 January 2019 . en.
  16. News: Halpin . Hayley . Master of High Court defends breaking windows in Four Courts with hammer . 20 February 2022 . TheJournal.ie . en.
  17. News: 'I'd do it again' - senior counsel who broke windows in courtroom in protest at stuffy 'fug' conditions . 20 February 2022 . independent . en.
  18. News: Sanz . Catherine . Master of High Court Edmund Honohan retires . 4 May 2022 . Business Post . en . ... worked his last day at the end of the previous court term earlier this month.. 8 April 2022 was the final day of the 2022 Hilary Term. Web site: High Court Sittings The Courts Service of Ireland . www.courts.ie . 4 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211013213305/https://www.courts.ie/content/high-court-law-terms . 13 October 2021.
  19. News: O’Doherty . Caroline . O’Loughlin . Ann . Honohan told to stop dealing with debt cases . 20 February 2022 . Irish Examiner . 25 January 2019 . en.
  20. News: O'Halloran . Marie . Removal of debt cases from Master of High Court 'deeply sinister and worrying' . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  21. News: Comyn . Francesca . Mortgage crisis . 20 February 2022 . The Sunday Business Post . 9 July 2017.
  22. News: Tighe . Mark . Edmund Honohan blocked from ruling on debt cases because of possible 'bias against the banks' . 20 February 2022 . The Sunday Times Ireland . 27 January 2019.
  23. News: High Court grants injunction against Master over referral decision . 20 February 2022 . independent . en.
  24. News: Senior court official acted outside his powers when he sought to refer €3m mortgage case to DPP, High Court rules . 20 February 2022 . independent . en.
  25. News: Carolan . Mary . High Court rules against Master's referral of AIB statement to DPP . 20 February 2022 . The Irish Times . en.
  26. https://www.bailii.org/ie/cases/IEHC/2015/H247.html Allied Irish Bank Plc -v- Honohan [2015] IEHC 247 (17 April 2015)
  27. News: High Court Master writes new legislation to help keep people in their homes . 20 February 2022 . The Journal.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Edmund Honohan".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.