Pat McCartan

For Irish republican and politician, see Patrick McCartan.

Pat McCartan
Judge of the Circuit Court
In office 1997–2016
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Mary Robinson
Teachta Dála
In office February 1987 – November 1992
Constituency	Dublin North-East
Dublin City Counciller
In office 1985–1987
Constituency	Artane
Personal details
Born	(1953-05-05) 5 May 1953 (age 71) County Wexford, Ireland
Political party	Workers' Party (1970s–1992) Democratic Left (1992–1997)
Alma mater	University College Dublin

Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a Circuit Court judge and a former politician.

A native of Wexford, he was educated at University College Dublin.^[1] He first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defence and was a founder of the McCartan & Hogan Solicitors law firm.^[2][3]

His first several elections were unsuccessful, contesting the 1981, the February 1982, and November 1982 elections.^[3] However, he was elected to Dublin City Council in the 1985 local election for the Artane area,^[2][3] serving for 2 years before he was then elected to Dáil Éireann as a Workers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-East constituency at the 1987 general election.^[3][4] He was re-elected at the 1989 general election.^[3]

In 1992, he joined with Proinsias De Rossa and five other Workers' Party deputies in resigning from the Workers' Party and in the creation of a new party, New Agenda which subsequently became Democratic Left.^[2][3] He stood as a Democratic Left candidate at the 1992 general election but lost his seat.^[5] After the collapse of the 1992–1994 Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition government, Democratic Left joined in a new coalition with Fine Gael and the Labour Party. This government subsequently appointed McCartan to the bench as a Circuit Court judge.^[2]

He retired as a judge in August 2016.^[2]

In August 2020, he attended a golf party in County Galway which breached the COVID-19 guidelines.^[6]

References

1. "Legal eagle with political background". Irish Independent. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
2. "Judge McCartan steps down after 19 years". Irish Independent. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
3. Lally, Conor (7 March 2017). "Who is the judge chairing the Stardust inquiry?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
4. "Patrick McCartan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
5. "Pat McCartan". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
6. Moore, Aoife (21 August 2020). "#Golfgate: Invite to Oireachtas event didn't mention pandemic". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.