A link with the judiciary in Northern Ireland spanning over half a century has ended with the retirement of Sir John MacDermott. The 71-year-old Lord Justice of Appeal has stepped aside after 25 years on the High Court bench.
His late father, Lord MacDermott, was a judge for 28 years, the last 20 of them as Lord Chief Justice, after four years as a member of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. Sir John was called to the Bar in 1949 and made a judge in 1973. Following the IRA murder of Lord Justice Gibson in 1987, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal.
