Challenging the judiciary: why does nobody do it?

Dáibhí

Why is the judiciary getting away with so much from the political and media classes in this state? It seems that they are petrified of challenging the judiciary.

Most particularly, politicians and media seem to cohere around the idea - or rather, the useful myth - that the judiciary is a group above politics, above self-interest and that, accordingly, they should be held in esteem.

This is patent nonsense. For starters, at the last count (Coakley and Gallagher, Politics in the Republic of Ireland) 77% of judges in this state have been appointed by Fianna Fáil. In other words, these people are appointed more for their politics than their legal expertise - and be very clear about that. Most of those judges belonged to a single cumann, namely the ironically named Kevin Barry Cumann in University College Dublin. Ironic because these same judges put wigs on them and expect to be addressed with titles such as 'your honour' and 'your lordship' - Paul Carney being the most notorious example of this, and recently condemned by his superior, Adrian Hardiman, for expecting people in "his" court to use such titles ( Story here: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/judges-get-wigs-in-a-knot-over-headwear-comments-65698.html). This followed the condemnation by the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ronan Keane, of a newly appointed Senior Counsel named Séamus Ó Tuathail. Ó Tuathail's "offence"? He had attended his conferring ceremony in 2000 but refused to wear the wigs and colonial garb.

But now? Now the same group of judges is refusing to contribute towards the pension levy which every public servant in this state is compelled to pay towards. The judges claim, in unison, that it would be unconstitutional for them to take a "pay cut" even though it is clear to everybody (without exception) that judges are not being singled out for this pension levy but instead are expected to pay it like even clerical workers, street cleaners, and senior civil servants are paying it.

Yet still, months after all other public servants have been forced to contribute, the overpaid, over-renumerated judges of this state and their enormous pensions, private garda minders and much, much more refuse to make their contribution claiming it is "unconstitutional" to expect them to contribute. And still, the politicians of this state avoid challenging them on this clearly unsustainable argument.

In an age when we have a wide range of specialists from brain surgeons to architects to archeologists, my question is: why are these judges (and their overtly dubious defence of their financial interests) still put on a pedestal in our country?

At a time when we are all paying the price for the state's mess, can anybody answer why these judges are remaining in their ivory towers untouched by our economic problems? Thank you.