Dara Robinson SC
Dara Robinson qualified as a solicitor in London in 1988, and joined Sheehan and Partners LLP in 1992, becoming a partner in 1998. In 2020, he was one of the first 17 solicitors to be appointed by the Irish Government as Senior Counsel. Dara became a Consultant to Sheehan & Partners LLP from the 31st of December 2022.
His practice covers the entire spectrum of criminal defence work. In particular, he has considerable experience in both England and Ireland of fraud, Revenue, ODCE and CAB prosecutions. He holds a Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering from the ICA/University of Manchester Business School. He is regarded as one of Ireland's leading experts in financial crime. He has also handled many of the leading cases in Mental Health Law in Ireland, both civil and criminal, notably Croke v Ireland, a case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which forced major changes in the law relating to the detention of psychiatric patients.
Like other partners in the firm, he has advised and defended in many cases relating to allegations of "historical" sexual abuse, as well as more contemporary accusations of sexual crime of all kinds.
He was previously a Chairman of Mental Health Tribunals, and continues to represent patients at the Mental Health Review Board in the Central Mental Hospital.
He was previously Vice-Chair of the Law Society’s Regulation of Practice Committee and is currently Chairman of the Money Laundering Reporting Committee. He is a former member of the Law Society Council, and was a long-term member of the Society’s Criminal Law Committee, including a three-year period as Chairman.
He frequently writes and lectures on criminal law, mental health law and human rights topics, and has contributed a number of chapters to joint Law Society/OUP manuals. He is a member of the European Criminal Bar Association and the (UK) Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers, as well as being the Irish member of LEAP Advisory Board established by the London based Fair Trials International to provide a Europe-wide network of criminal lawyers.