Paul Gallagher | |
|---|---|
| Attorney General of Ireland | |
| In office 27 June 2020 – 17 December 2022 | |
| Appointed by | Michael D. Higgins |
| Taoiseach | Micheál Martin |
| Preceded by | Séamus Woulfe |
| Succeeded by | Rossa Fanning |
| In office 14 June 2007 – 9 March 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Mary McAleese |
| Taoiseach | |
| Preceded by | Rory Brady |
| Succeeded by | Máire Whelan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-03-20)20 March 1955 (age 70) Tralee,County Kerry, Ireland |
| Spouse | Bláthna Ruane |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Castleknock College |
| Alma mater | |
Paul GallagherSC (born 20 March 1955[1]) is an Irishbarrister who wasAttorney General of Ireland from 2007 to 2011 and again between 2020 and 2022. During his first term as Attorney General, there was a period of significant economic difficulty in theRepublic of Ireland, causing him to advise on the bank guarantee scheme, the establishment of theNational Asset Management Agency and the Troika programme.
He has led a successful career as abarrister outside of Government. He has frequently appeared in the Irish courts on matters involving commercial and constitutional law.
Gallagher was born in Tralee in 1955 and grew up in Day Place.[2] He received his primary education at CBS Tralee and secondary education atCastleknock College.[1]
Gallagher obtained aBCL fromUCD in 1975 and completed a BL degree in theKing's Inns in 1976. He returned to UCD to receive aB.A. inhistory andeconomics, graduating in 1978. He received an LLM degree from theUniversity of Cambridge in 1979, where he was a member ofTrinity Hall, Cambridge.[1]
Gallagher returned to Ireland to becalled to the Bar in 1979. He was called on the same day as his predecessor as Attorney General,Rory Brady.[3] He became aSenior Counsel in 1991.[4]
He became aBencher of the King's Inns in 2005 and he served as vice-chairman of the Bar Council from 1995 to 1996.[5][1] As a barrister, he has maintained a practice with a broad expertise including in public law,European Union law, commercial law and competition law.[5][6]
Prior to becoming Attorney General, he had appeared in many significant cases. He represented the state inZappone v. Revenue Commissioners in its opposition to the attempt byKatherine Zappone andAnn Louise Gilligan to have the legal status of theirCanadian marriage recognised for tax purposes.[3] He representedFitzwilton in its challenge to theMahon tribunal and a challenge byCarroll's of tobacco legislation.[3] Some of his other clients have includedLarry Goodman,[7] the owners of theJeanie Johnston,[8]Microsoft,[9]Aer Rianta,[10]Eircom,[11] andMichael McDowell.[12]
In 1996, he appeared with the then Attorney GeneralDermot Gleeson for the state in a case taken byDes Hanafin seeking to haveFifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, permitting divorce, declared to be unconstitutional.[13] Following areference made by PresidentMary McAleese under Article 26 of theConstitution of Ireland in 2000, Gallagher was appointed by theSupreme Court of Ireland to argue against the constitutionality of the Planning and Development Bill 1999.[14] He appeared for the Attorney General (with Gleeson andGerard Hogan) in another reference made by President McAleese regarding the Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2004.[15]
In the area of defamation law, he appeared for Irish newspapers who were being sued for defamation by Ian Bailey, arising out ofdeath of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.[6] He also successfully acted forBertie Ahern in an action taken against businessman Denis "Starry" O'Brien.[16]
He representedFyffes againstDCC plc in an unsuccessful actionHigh Court on an allegation ofinsider trading which lasted for 87 days.[6] He appeared again for Fyffes in an appeal to theSupreme Court of Ireland in 2007, after his appointment as Attorney General. He continued to act for the company as he said he was under a "professional obligation".[17] The court overturned the decision of the High Court, finding that the chairman of DCC plc had held inside information.[18]
He was nominated to the post of Attorney General byTaoiseachBertie Ahern on 14 June 2007 and renominated byBrian Cowen on 6 May 2008.[1] His appointment was unusual at the time as he had not been politically involved with either of the coalition partiesFianna Fáil or theGreen Party.[6] His role involved providing legal advice to theGovernment of the 30th Dáil and supervising all legislation promoted by the government.[19] In his capacity, he attended meetings of the cabinet.[20] He was said to be in the office from 7am until 7pm, taking a 15-minute lunch-break. He was noted as being an "impressive public speaker".[3]
He supervised the drafting of theDefamation Act 2009. The criminal of offence of blasphemy was required by theConstitution of Ireland which he "designed to be impossible to prosecute".[21] In 2009 he advised the government that it could not impose a pension levy on the Irish judiciary.[22]
His time as Attorney General overlapped with thePost-2008 Irish banking crisis and thePost-2008 Irish economic downturn.[19] In the midst of significant market turmoil,[23] Gallagher was among those present on the morning of 30 September 2008 advising the Irish government on its decision to guarantee the liabilities of Ireland's largest banks. He was the only member of the government to be present, aside from the Taoiseach andMinister for FinanceBrian Lenihan.[20] He also provided legal advice on the establishment of theNational Asset Management Agency.[3]
He advised the government on legal matters arising out of it seeking emergency funding from theECB, theEurogroup and theIMF leading to theEconomic Adjustment Programme for Ireland.[24] He told an Oireachtas inquiry into the banking crisis in 2015 that he advised the government that it could legally default on €14 billion of bonds, but the government at the time said it was not acceptable to the international partners.[25]
Gallagher attended three successive meetings of theBilderberg Group between 2010 and 2012.[26]
Upon the formation of anew government in March 2011, Gallagher was succeeded byMáire Whelan.[27] He received severance pay of €81,886.16.[28]
Gallagher resumed his practice as a barrister in 2011. He repeatedly appeared in cases taken byIrish Bank Resolution Corporation, the state-owned entity established to succeedAnglo Irish Bank, upon concluding his first term as Attorney General.[29][30] He represented theOireachtas in proceedings taken byAngela Kerins in the High Court and subsequent appeals from as far as the Supreme Court.[31] He acted for the State in an appeal taken by Graham Dwyer to the Supreme Court, the man convicted of themurder of Elaine O'Hara, regarding the applicability of theData Retention Directive.[32]
He has appeared in theEuropean Court of Justice in significant cases with an Irish dimension. He appeared forFacebook in a data protection case in 2019 and Ireland in an action taken by theEuropean Commission in theEU illegal State aid case against Apple in Ireland.[33][34]
He is anadjunct professor at UCD and a member of its School of Law's development council.[35] He is also a fellow of theInternational Society of Barristers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.[5]
In the agreement following the2020 general election betweenFianna Fáil, Fine Gael and theGreen Party for anew government, the position of role of Attorney General was to be nominated by the Taoiseach for each period of the government, so that it would be rotated over the term of the Dáil.Micheál Martin nominated Gallagher to the position, taking office on 27 June 2020.[36][37][38]
Gallagher announced in November 2022 that he would step down as attorney general in December 2022.[39] He was Attorney General until 17 December 2022.[40]
Gallagher is married to another barrister, Bláthna Ruane with whom he lives inBallsbridge.[6] They have three sons, all of whom also studied law.[41]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Ireland 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Ireland 2020–2022 | Succeeded by |