Bar Council Congratulates New Queen’s Counsel

Today marks the appointment of 25 members of the Bar of Northern Ireland as Queen’s Counsel at a ceremony in the High Court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice.

The Bar Council congratulates the new QCs on their elevation and wishes them every success as they embark on this new phase of their careers. The award of QC is a time-honoured recognition of excellence in advocacy and legal skills, representing an important milestone for all those appointed. Only those advocates of the highest ability are recommended for appointment by a panel on the basis of a rigorous and objective selection process. As ambassadors for the profession, the depth of expertise in this group is considerable and they will continue to play a vital role in ensuring that clients across Northern Ireland are provided with high quality and accessible legal services.

The new appointees are: Tessa Kitson, John (Mel) Power, Ivor McAteer, Gary McHugh, Sarah Ramsey, Bernard Brady. Adrian Colmer, Martina Connolly, Paul McLaughlin, Donal Sayers, David Dunlop, Joanne Hannigan, Dessie Hutton, Donal Lunny, Joseph Aiken, Desmond Fahy, Mark Robinson, David Sharpe, Craig Dunford, Andrew Magee, Conor Maguire, Richard Coghlin, William Gowdy, Samuel Magee and Ian Skelt.