Patricia Bergin Quotes

I have the honour to announce I have been appointed a Judge of this Court. I present to you my Commission.

It is most gratifying to be reminded of the interesting and important aspects of my life and career. One aspect to which reference has not been made directly is my abiding interest in the exercise of power and how it affects others.

owever, that interest flourished in my time in high school at the Sacre Coeur convent in Kincoppal. The Sacre Coeur nuns wore habits, or robes, which were quite unique and it seemed to me that their presence enhanced the nuns' authority. It was not just the individual with whom one was dealing with but an institution which commanded and might I say received, respect.

Chief Justice, your Honours, Mr Barker, Ms Hole, members of the legal profession, ladies and gentlemen, thank you Mr Barker and thank you Ms Hole. I am deeply grateful for the generous remarks that have been made.

I am indeed honoured and delighted to be that woman and to be appointed to Equity when it is so clearly in a period of vigour.

This is a wonderful ceremony made more so by the presence of my family, my friends and colleagues. It is, of course, not possible to thank you individually but I would like to say that the trust of my instructing solicitors in placing their briefs in my hands over the years has been enormously gratifying. It is that trust upon which a career at the Bar depends. For that I thank you.

It is enormously satisfying to know that nearly 30 years later I was part of a process which I have no doubt was pivotal to the establishment of a more accountable and specialised system for the detection and more importantly the prevention of abuse of children in this State. It seems to me that the community will remain indebted to Justice Wood for his remarkable achievements in this area.