Biography

Dr Mary Redmond passed away in April 2015. She was a CEDR qualified mediator and Consultant Solicitor at Arthur Cox Dublin where she specialised in Employment Law. She was author of the standard text Dismissal Law (2007), Strikes – An Essential Guide to Industrial Relations (2010), and major author of the first Yearbook and ePublication on Irish Employment Law, the Arthur Cox Employment Law Yearbook (volumes 2011 and 2012 respectively). A director of the Labour Relations Commission for two terms, she had over 25 years’ experience of employment law practice, and was consistently rated internationally as one of Ireland’s most recommended employment lawyers. Dr Redmond taught Employment Law first at University College Dublin and then at the University of Cambridge where she was Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Christ’s College until 1985. Her PhD Cantab was awarded for a thesis on comparative dismissal law. In 2004 Redmond was made an Honorary Fellow of Christ's College and chaired its Development Board from 2006 to 2009. For many years a Council member of the Institute of Directors, UK, she is now a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Redmond’s commercial board appointments included Bank of Ireland Group (where she was Deputy Governor), Smurfit Group plc, Campbell Bewley Group, the Royal Liver Assurance, 4FM Radio, and Cricket Ireland. She was a member of several statutory boards including the RTE Authority. Redmond was founder of two national charities, the Irish Hospice Foundation, and The Wheel. She was a founding director of Boardmatch. Other not for profit directorships have included Barretstown and the Cheshire Foundation. She served on the Government’s White Paper Taskforce on Supporting Voluntary Activity and also on the Taoiseach’s Taskforce on Active Citizenship. She was also a Trustee of the Iveagh Trust. Brought up in Dublin, Redmond lived between Dublin, Devon and France, with lawyer and writer husband, Dr Patrick Ussher. Their son, Patrick, is a classicist and PhD student at Exeter University.