The judiciary has been the "Cinderella" of the three pillars of the State and there is still no Judicial Council despite some 20 years of talking about it with government, the outgoing Chief Justice Susan Denham has said.

The administration of justice is being threatened by the use of social media in the courts, the State’s top judge has said.

The country’s top judge, Chief Justice Susan Denham, has hit out at the failure of the Government to establish a judicial council, which she said is damaging Ireland’s international reputation writes Political editor Daniel McConnell.

The chief justice has called for a radical overhauling of the way in which judges are appointed, warning that “political allegiance should have no bearing on appointments.”