 When the position of President of the High Court became available, Reynolds proposed Whelehan for the position.At this stage allegations surfaced that Whelehan had been less than keen to prosecute a serial child abuser priest, Brendan Smyth, due to the implications that such an action concerned the accountability of certain prominent members of the Catholic hierarchy.It was later revealed that Whelehan, in his capacity as Attorney General of Ireland, had mishandled an attempt to extradite Smyth to Northern Ireland, where he was facing criminal charges.