Offaly judge appointed to district court role in Midlands

A judge from Tullamore has been appointed as the presiding judge in Court District No. 9, which includes Athlone, Mullingar and Longford.

Judge Bernadette Owens was appointed to the role on Wednesday last. She succeeds the late Judge Seamus Hughes, who died in July at the age of 69.

The Offaly woman has extensive experience in several branches of the law, including criminal and family law.

For many years, she was the principal solicitor at B M Owens and Company Solicitors in Birr. A graduate of the University of Limerick, she also studied at Rathmines College of Commerce in Dublin.

Enrolled as a solicitor in 1984, she served an apprenticeship at the legal practice of Birr solicitor and TD Tom Enright, and worked in Clonmel before returning to Birr to establish her own practice in 1991.

Judge Owens' appointment to District No. 9 comes five and a half years after she was appointed as a District Court judge, in January 2017.

At a sitting of Mullingar District Court on Thursday last, her appointment was welcomed by various officers of the court, including solicitors, courts staff, and representatives of An Garda Síochána.

Judge Owens thanked those who spoke for their kind words. She said she was humbled at hearing the list of eminent judges who preceded her in the district, and remarked that the first case she dealt with as a solicitor in Tullamore District Court was heard by Judge Tormey.

"I have big shoes to fill, and I hope I perform my duties in the same honourable and humane way," she said, adding that receiving the news of her appointment on Wednesday last, September 7, had given her "a great sense of honour".