Delayed principle

JUDICIAL reform cannot come soon enough. But Shane Ross, the minister spearheading the overhaul of the judicial appointments process who next week steers the legislation through the approval stage, appears to have accepted the very system of patronage about which he has been so scathingly critical.

The Cabinet’s decision to make a number of judicial appointments, including a number with Fine Gael links, to fill vacancies created by the retirement of judges, may betray an eagerness to repay a few favours before the new system prevails.

It could also indicate a series of compromises undertaken by Mr Ross to secure the passage of his controversial Bill.

Whatever the reason, it seems that, for the moment at any rate, the minister has been obliged to jettison his conviction that merit must be the only basis upon which appointments to the bench are made.