[10] On 12 July 2010, the High Court granted leave to Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty for a judicial review into why a by-election was not being held in Donegal South-West.
[11] The seat was vacant since June 2009, following the resignation of Fianna Fáil TD Pat "the Cope" Gallagher on his election to the European Parliament.
He declared that Section 30 (2) of the Electoral Act 1992 should be construed as requiring that a writ for a by-election be moved within a reasonable time of the vacancy arising.
[13] He further stated, ...it is the ongoing failure to move the writ for this by-election since June 2009 which offends the terms and spirit of the Constitution and its framework for democratic representation.
Kearns was appointed by Mary Mitchell O'Connor in 2017 to become the chairperson of the Personal Injuries Commission.
[4] He became the deputy chairperson of the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin in 2015 and is a trustee of the Gate Theatre.