Minister appoints Dr Linda Mulligan as chief State pathologist

The Government has appointed a new chief State pathologist following a 2½-year search.

Dr Linda Mulligan was appointed to the role by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee following an open competition through the Public Appointments Service.

Dr Mulligan has served as acting chief State pathologist since the retirement of her predecessor, Prof Marie Cassidy, in 2018.

As chief State pathologist, Dr Mulligan will lead the Office of the State Pathologist which is responsible for conducting postmortems in unexplained or suspicious deaths and giving evidence in any subsequent trial or inquest.

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The office also provides independent expert advice on all matters related to forensic pathology.

“Dr Mulligan is an accomplished and highly professional consultant forensic pathologist with over 18 years’ experience, both nationally and internationally, in forensic pathology, histopathology and clinical medicine,” Ms McEntee said.

“I know the expertise, professionalism and empathy of our pathologist team makes a huge difference to bereaved families in the most difficult circumstances. Dr Mulligan’s deep experience will be of huge value in this vital role and I wish her well in her work and in her continued leadership of the office.”

Opportunities and challenges

Dr Mulligan said she was "privileged and excited" to take on the role. "I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges of establishing our new team and developing a strategic plan for the office, with a firm focus on continuing to provide the highest quality national forensic pathology service to the coroners, An Garda Síochána, the criminal justice system and, most importantly, to the families of the deceased."

Further pathologist appointments are expected in the coming weeks.

A worldwide shortage of pathologists has been blamed for the delays in recruiting qualified staff to the Office of the State Pathologist.

There is no national training scheme for forensic pathologists in Ireland and the field is not recognised as a speciality by the Irish Medical Council. It said there are not enough practitioners of forensic pathology to justify its classification as a speciality, which is a prerequisite for the introduction of a training scheme.