Rory MacCabe

MacCabe first worked in the Irish civil service.^[1] He holds a diploma in public administration.^[2] He was called to the Bar in 1984 and became a senior counsel in 1999.^[2][3] He was involved in criminal trials and also acted in civil matters including employment law, defamation, personal injuries and injunctions.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} He acted for the builder Tom Brennan at the Mahon Tribunal.^[9]

David Andrews, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, employed MacCabe from 1998 to advise him on European affairs.^[10]

He was appointed to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in August 2001.^[11]

He was appointed to the Circuit Court in May 2007.^[12] He was not assigned to a particular circuit.^[13] He presided over criminal trials involving drugs offences, robbery, sexual offences, assault, fraud, harassment, arson, and theft.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]} He was presiding judge in cases involving debt recovery, defamation and health and safety law.^[22][23][24]

He was a member of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee of the Judicial Council of Ireland and he was the chair of the Judicial ICT Cross Jurisdictional Committee.^[25][26]

He chaired a steering group of the Irish Sports Council in 2008.^[27]

MacCabe was nominated to replace Mary Ellen Ring as the chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in December 2021.^[1] To facilitate his appointment, he was appointed to the High Court in January 2022.^[3][28] He also became the GSOC chairperson in January 2022.^[29]