Eoin Carolan

Background

About Eoin Carolan

Senior Counsel at the Irish Bar with extensive experience in public law and civil litigation. I am a leading specialist in constitutional, administrative and human rights-related litigation, in which I have advised and acted for clients such as the Attorney General, numerous Ministers and Government Departments, the Oireachtas, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency, Legal Aid Board, An Garda Siochána and others. I also regularly appear before the Irish High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. My recent Supreme Court appearances include the proceedings in Child and Family Agency v Adoption Authority [2023] IESC 5; In re section 49 of Adoption Act 2010, A and B [2023] IESC 6; Heneghan v Minister for Housing (no.1) and (no. 2)[2023] IESC 7 and 18; and O'Meara v Minister for Social Protection [2024] IESC 1. In addition to my legal practice, I am also a Full Professor at University College Dublin were I am Director of the Centre for Constitutional Studies. I have taught courses in UCD in Constitutional Law, Court Practice, Media Law, Data Protection and Privacy Law and Sports Law. I have authored and edited numerous books and articles across these areas, including The New Separation of Powers (Oxford University Press, 2009), Judicial Power in Ireland (IPA, 2018), Media Law in Ireland (2nd ed, Bloomsbury 2019) and The Making and Re-Making of Public Law (Hart, 2024). At present, I am leading The Foundations Project a €2m European Research Council-funded investigation of the factors and forces that can preserve, strengthen or weaken the foundations of constitutional government and the rule of law.