New State Solicitor appointed

Native son is Mayo’s new State Solicitor


Áine Ryan

IT WILL certinaly be a case of bringing it all back home as the county’s newly-appointed State Solicitor, Mr Vincent Deane, packs his files and his law books at his DPP’s office in Dublin and soon returns to his native county.
Vincent Deane may be still on the right side of 40 but reportedly he has out-wigged over 30 local applicants for the coveted job, vacated by Judge Seamus Hughes last August.
Within weeks he will work on behalf of the State in the prosecution of cases taken by the Garda SíochΡna, in their role of our society’s legal guardians.
Vincent Deane is a native of Bangor Erris where his parents Eamonn and Bridget still reside and once ran a grocery shop.
He first attended the Regional Technical College (RTC) in Galway before completing a B Comm at University College Galway (UCG). He later undertook legal studies and received an LLB at UCG in the mid-1990s.
For a period he was then employed in the marketing department of a publishing company in Ballina before working as an apprentice solicitor with Charlie Gilmartin, at Gilmartin and Murphy, in Kiltimagh.
Vincent Deane then moved to the Chief State Solicitor’s office where he specialised in civil  litigation for a short time before moving to the DPP’s office where he gained experience in criminal litigation. He has also given lectures on case law regarding drunken driving. 
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday he confirmed that his appointment is due to be formally announced in the coming days.
“Of course, I am delighted to be returning to my native county to work. I plan to open an office in Castlebar in the near future and will base myself there.”
Reacting to the news, Mr Charlie Gilmartin warmly welcomed his former apprentice’s appointment.
“I certainly welcome Vincent’s appointment and know that he will be a very good State Solicitor. He has a lot of experience prosecuting. And on top of that he’s a very nice guy,” Charlie Gilmartin said last night.
Of course, returning home for Deane means more than helping to dispense justice, it also means he can improve his golf swing at the club in Doohoma and go fishing with his father on Mayo’s many rivers.