Marguerite Bolger is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since January 2022. She previously practiced as a barrister, where she specialised in employment law.

Early life

Bolger is from County Kilkenny.^[1] She was born to Elaine Murphy and John Bolger, who was Mayor of Kilkenny in 1999.^[2] She attended secondary school at Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny and later received LLB and MLitt degrees.^[1][3]

Legal career

She was called to the Irish bar in 1993, and became a senior counsel in 2009.^[3] She primarily practiced in the area of employment law.^[4][5][6] She has appeared in cases before the Supreme Court of Ireland and the European Court of Justice.^[7][8][9] Her clients included both employees and employers, including RTÉ, the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, An Post, Cork City F.C., and the Central Bank of Ireland.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}

In August 2021, she was appointed by the Irish government to chair negotiations with hospital consultants about entering into the Sláintecare system.^[17]

She has written several legal texts, including the first edition of a book on Irish criminal law with Peter Charleton and Paul Anthony McDermott and the books Sex Discrimination and the Law and Employment Equality Law.^[18][19][20] Bolger is a former chairperson of the Employment Bar Association of Ireland and served on the executive board of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.^[21] She was re-appointed for a second three-year term as chair of the Panel of Enquiry at Trinity College Dublin in June 2020.^[22]

In 2016, her former assistant was convicted in the Circuit Court of stealing €28,000 from her.^[23]

Judicial career

Bolger was one of five people nominated to the High Court in September 2021.^[4] Her appointment was delayed due to ongoing work on behalf of the State.^[24] She was appointed in January 2022.^[25]

References