Father’s claim of bias rejected

A father who claimed a judge was biased because of alleged political interference by former Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke during family law proceedings has lost a legal challenge seeking to set aside an order granting full custody of his son to his estranged wife.

Ms O’Rourke denied she had made any representation to Judge Desmond Hogan, who later had a brief conversation with High Court judge, Henry Abbott, who had been dealing with two appeals in relation to the same family law matter.

An inquiry decided the raising of the matter by Judge Hogan should not have occurred, but it could not have influenced Judge Abbott in his decision.