Catherine Pierse is an Irish solicitor who has been the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members of ...

since November 2021.

Early life

Pierse comes from

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016. Desc ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the cou ...

. She studied at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

. She obtained a master's degree in governance from the

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

in 2011.

Legal career

She qualified as a solicitor in 2001. She first worked as criminal defence solicitor, including as a trial lawyer at Kelleher and O'Doherty solicitors. She later worked as a legal adviser to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and was a lawyer at the

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland ( ga, Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland's central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is the country's financial services regulator for most categories of financial fi ...

. She was the head of legal, policy and research at the Policing Authority between 2016 and 2018. Her final position before becoming Director of Public Prosecutions was head of the agency's prosecution support services division.

Director of Public Prosecutions

Pierse was announced as successor to Claire Loftus as the

in October 2021. Her appointment was effective from 8 November 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierse, Catherine Living people People from Listowel Irish solicitors Irish civil servants Alumni of University College Cork Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Year of birth missing (living people)