Gallery: Celebration inside a Kilkenny court room to mark career of important local figure

A man who has been ‘a colleague, a mentor and one of the finest solicitors to serve in the role he holds’ has been honoured by friends and colleagues as he prepares to retire.

Well-respected solicitor Gerry Meaney was surprised with tributes and presentations on one of his final days acting as state solicitor before the circuit court in Kilkenny, last week.

Members of the judiciary, the legal profession, court service, gardaí, friends and his family surprised Mr Meaney on the final day of Kilkenny Circuit Court sittings, to wish him well in his retirement and let him know he will be greatly missed in legal circles.

WATCH NEXT: Presentation to Gerry Meaney in Kilkenny Circuit Court

Mr Meaney has been in the job for 42 years — the longest serving state solicitor in the country.  Appointed to the position when he was in his 20s, by Attorney General Peter Sutherland, Mr Meaney has served under four Directors of Public Prosecutions and 23 garda superintendents.

BELOW: Gerry Meaney at Kilkenny Circuit Court. All pictures in this gallery: Vicky Comerford.