Record #: R2017-753   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 9/6/2017 Current Controlling Legislative Body:
Final action: 9/6/2017
Title: Congratulations extended to Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke on appointment as Chief Justice and President of Supreme Court of Ireland
Sponsors: Burke, Edward M.
Attachments: 1. R2017-753.pdf

WHEREAS, on July 28, 2017, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke, prominent and esteemed jurist in the Republic of Ireland, received appointment at Aras an Uachtarain from President Michael D. Higgins, to serve as the twelfth Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Ireland succeeding the Honorable Ms. Justice Susan Denham; and

WHEREAS, the Chicago City Council has been informed of this historic appointment by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke was born on October 10, 1951 in Walkinstown, Dublin, Ireland and was educated at Drimnagh Castle CBS, a Christian Brothers secondary school in Dublin; and

WHEREAS, he later studied at the University College Dublin where he was awarded a B.A. degree in Mathematics and Economics in 1972; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke was the first in his family to attend college; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke was called to the Bar in 1973 and to the Inner Bar in 1985;and

WHEREAS, during his time at the Bar, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke served as external counsel to the Commission to Inquiry into Child Abuse (the Laffoy and Ryan Commissions); and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Clarke was a professor at King's Inns from 1978 to 1985 and has been Judge in Residence at Griffith College Dublin from 2010 to date; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Clarke was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Law School in Trinity College, Dublin, in September 2012; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke joined Fine Gael and wrote speeches for the late Dr. Garret FitzGerald, Taoiseach of Ireland in 1981-1982 and 1982-1987, as well as acting as election agent for former junior minister George Birmingham, who is now a judge of the Court of Appeal; and

WHEREAS, a former barrister, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke practiced commercial, constitutional and family law, and served as Chairman of the Bar Council from 1993 to 1995; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke is a Bencher of the Honorable Society of the King's Inns since 1995 and was admitted as an honorary member of the Australian Bar Association in 2002; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke received appointment to the High Court by the Fianna-Fail Progressive Democrats in 2004; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke served as chairman of the Referendum Commission for the referendum on the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (the Lisbon Treaty) in 2009;and

 

WHEREAS, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank. Clarke was appointed to the Supreme Court on February 9, 2012;and

 

WHEREAS, noted for the clarity of his judgments and regarded as one of the brightest legal minds in the Republic of Ireland, the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke has earned the highest level of esteem and respect; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council assembled this sixth day of September, 2017, do hereby congratulate the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke for his ascension to the Supreme Court of Ireland as Chief Justice and President, and for a lifetime of dedicated service to the people of the Republic of Ireland; and

an Edward M. Burke Alderman, 14th Ward

BE IT FURTHER RESOL VED, that a suitable copy of this RpsljKition be presented to the Honorable Mr. Justice Frank Clarke.

&1oetai