Paul Gallagher (barrister) facts for kids

Paul Gallagher is a very important Irish barrister born on March 20, 1955. He held the special job of Attorney General of Ireland twice. First, from 2007 to 2011, and then again from 2020 to 2022. The Attorney General is the main legal advisor to the Irish government. They help the government understand laws and make sure new laws are correct.

During his first time as Attorney General, Ireland faced big money problems. Paul Gallagher gave advice on important plans like the bank guarantee scheme, which helped protect banks, and the setting up of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which dealt with bad loans. He also advised on the Troika programme, which was a plan to help Ireland's economy.

Outside of his government roles, Paul Gallagher has had a very successful career as a lawyer. He often appeared in Irish courts, working on cases about business and the country's main laws.

Early Life and Education

Paul Gallagher was born in Tralee, a town in County Kerry, in 1955. He grew up there and went to CBS Tralee for primary school. For his secondary education, he attended Castleknock College.

He studied law at UCD and the King's Inns. He also earned a degree in history and economics from UCD. Later, he got another law degree from the University of Cambridge in England, where he was part of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

Starting His Legal Career

Paul Gallagher became a qualified lawyer, known as being "called to the Bar", in 1979. He became a Senior Counsel in 1991. This title is given to very experienced and respected barristers.

He was also a leader in the legal community. He served as vice-chairman of the Bar Council, which is like a governing body for barristers. As a lawyer, he worked on many different types of cases, including public law, European Union law, business law, and competition law.

Before becoming Attorney General, he worked on many important legal cases. For example, he represented the Irish government in a case where Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan wanted their Canadian marriage to be recognized for tax purposes in Ireland. He also represented companies like Microsoft and Aer Rianta (the company that runs Irish airports) in their legal matters.

He also worked on cases involving the Constitution of Ireland, which is the country's most important law. He helped the Supreme Court look at new laws to make sure they followed the Constitution.

Attorney General (2007–2011)

Paul Gallagher was chosen to be Attorney General by the then-leader of Ireland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in 2007. He was chosen again by the next Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, in 2008. It was a bit unusual because he wasn't directly involved in politics with the ruling parties. His job was to give legal advice to the government and help create new laws. He even attended government meetings. He was known for working very long hours and being a great public speaker.

He helped create the Defamation Act 2009. This law dealt with things like blasphemy, which was a requirement in the Irish Constitution. He designed the law so that it would be very difficult to prosecute anyone for blasphemy.

His time as Attorney General happened during a very difficult period for Ireland's economy, known as the Post-2008 Irish banking crisis. He was there when the government decided to guarantee all the money in Ireland's biggest banks to stop them from collapsing. He also gave legal advice on setting up the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which was created to help the banks deal with their bad loans.

He also advised the government when Ireland needed emergency financial help from international groups like the ECB and the IMF. He explained that the government could legally choose not to pay back some bonds, but the government decided it wasn't acceptable to their international partners.

When a new government was formed in 2011, Paul Gallagher was replaced by Máire Whelan.

Between Government Roles

After his first term as Attorney General, Paul Gallagher went back to working as a barrister. He worked on many cases for the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which was a state-owned company set up to take over Anglo Irish Bank.

He also represented the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament) in a case taken by Angela Kerins. He also acted for the State in a case involving Graham Dwyer, focusing on how data retention laws applied to his case.

He has also appeared in the European Court of Justice, which is the highest court in the European Union. For example, he represented Facebook in a data protection case and Ireland in a case about whether the country gave unfair financial help to Apple.

Paul Gallagher is also a special professor at UCD and a member of its law school's development council. He is also part of important international groups for barristers.

Attorney General (2020–2022)

After the 2020 Irish general election, the main political parties agreed that the role of Attorney General would be rotated. Micheál Martin, the new Taoiseach, chose Paul Gallagher for the job, and he started on June 27, 2020.

In November 2022, Paul Gallagher announced that he would step down from his role as Attorney General. His second term ended on December 17, 2022.

Personal Life

Paul Gallagher is married to Bláthna Ruane, who is also a barrister. They live in Ballsbridge and have three sons. Two of their sons have also studied law.