‘One in a million’: Tributes paid as beloved Liam Devenney retires from Courts Service

“All rise!” declared the District Court President, Judge Paul Kelly, as Liam Devenney entered court number 1 at Letterkenny courthouse on Friday afternoon.

After 34 years as the caretaker and jack of all trades in courthouses new and old, Liam has retired. 

A large crowd gathered for a special sitting of the court on Friday to pay tribute to the much loved Courts Service staff member.

President Kelly - who spent a decade as the presiding judge in District No. 1 - was joined by District Court Judges Éiteáin Cunningham and Emile Daly as well as County Registrar Mr James Canny on the bench. 

The courtroom was packed with legal practitioners, Courts Service staff past and present, senior members of An Garda Siochana and media who all came to salute the service and friendship offered by Liam since 1992.

Members of Liam’s family, including his wife Frances, son Ashley and sisters Anne and Eileen, listened proudly as Liam’s service was recognised. 

President Kelly looked back to his first day as the District Court Judge, sitting in the old courthouse in Letterkenny. He arrived not knowing where to park or where to go.

“A very kind man came over to me and figured out who I was, so he led me through the labyrinth of passages and led me to court number one,” President Kelly said. “For the next 10 years and a bit, Liam was an ever present and looked after me, my colleagues and I’m sure many of you with the customary calm, quiet, pleasant, helpful and courteous demeanour. “

Mr Liam Devenney at Letterkenny courthouse. Photo: Joe Boland (North West Newspix)

President Kelly said Liam dealt with so many people in the courthouse, but “he dealt with everyone in the same polite and courteous manner”.

Judge Daly said it was “so clear how beloved you are among all practitioners, litigants and everyone in the system”. 

“Your presence was really reassuring,” Judge Daly said. “That care and attention is irreplaceable.”

Recalling that her interactions with Liam “cheered me up every day”, Judge Cunningham said: “Even when days wouldn’t be going as well, Liam would come in and his smile, the little interaction would just make my day. 

“I regard Liam as a very good friend. Liam, you are one in a million. We don’t know how much you have contributed. What you do here is immeasurable, not only the work, but the presence, career, kindness and humour.”

Donegal County Registrar James Canny said he arrived in Donegal back in 2000. 

“I assumed that Liam Devenney ran the Courts Service,” Mr Canny said. “After 26 years, I am absolutely certain of it! It is not a case of what he does, but what he doesn’t do. To say that the man is a doer would underestimate what he does.”

Mr Canny said he saw first hand the value of Liam’s work at the elections and added: “People forget that there is a side of the Courts Service that is to help to secure democracy in the State and your efforts have helped to secure democracy.”

Barrister Mr Damian Crawford said Liam’s “sunny demeanour” was a pleasure and added how a sitting of the Sligo High Court, taking place in Letterkenny, sat on until 10pm.

“People in Dublin couldn’t understand how someone, like Liam, would sit until that hour with no discernible benefit to themselves,” Mr Crawford said. 

On behalf of the Donegal Bar Association, solicitor Mr Kieran O’Gorman said the sizeable gathering showed the esteem in which Liam is held. He recalled how the late solicitor Paudge Dorrian told him on Liam’s first day how the new “young fella is nice and friendly”. “He has been that since,” Mr O’Gorman said. “He does it in a polite, mannerly and genuine way and he helps every member of the profession. Liam is held in high esteem by all of his colleagues.”

Tributes were also paid by Garda Chief Superintendent Goretti Sheridan, State Solicitor for Donegal Mr Kieran Dillon and Mr Paddy Walsh on behalf of the local media.

Superintendent Siobhan Mollohan, Inspector Paul Gallagher, Inspector Paul McGee, Sergeant Jim Collins and Sergeant Maurice Doyle were the other senior gardai in attendance. 

Presentations were made to Liam on behalf of the Donegal Bar Association by Ms Margaret Mulrine, by Mr Ciaran O’Rourke BL on behalf of the barristers and from Chief Superintendent Sheridan and Sergeant Collins. Judge Cunningham presented flowers to Ms Frances Devenney.

Manager of the Letterkenny Courts Office, Mr Geoffrey McGonagle, said Liam has been the “heart and soul” of the office for many years.

“He has been a constant in the office with the staff for so long,” Mr McGonagle said. “He was the eyes and the ears of the office. It was his good humour and positivity, his ability to brighten up a dull day and his morning greetings to everybody. A great attribute was his short telling. He had a story for everyone who walked through the doors.”

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An emotional Liam thanked everyone who had turned out to bid him a fond farewell.

“I spent a long time walking the corridors of courthouses, but it was a pleasure for me and I met a lot of lovely people,” he said, adding that he might well put his famous stories in a book “The Truth, The Whole Truth and Anything But The Truth”!

They all rose again: This time for a well-earned round of applause.