Denis McDonald is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since April 2018. He was previously practiced as a barrister with a speciality in commercial law. He was the chair of the

Irish Takeover Panel The Irish Takeover Panel is the statutory body responsible for monitoring and supervising takeovers and other relevant transactions in relevant companies in Ireland. It was established by the Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997. The Panel is designated a ...

between 2010 and 2018.

Early life

McDonald attended

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he graduated with a law degree in 1984. He received a Barrister-at-Law degree from the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

in 1986.

Legal career

He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in July 1986 and became a

senior counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

in October 2000. His practice was focused on commercial law. He has represented

Smart Telecom Smart Telecom ( AIM:SMR) was an Irish telecom operator that started as a phone card seller. It was also the third largest provider of cost-sensitive telecom services sector in Ireland, behind the incumbent operators eircom and BT Ireland. It had ...

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

, and

Paddy McKillen Paddy (Patrick) McKillen (born 1955; Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an international hotelier, property investor and businessman. Biography Born in Andersonstown, West Belfast, his father owned a garage in the same suburb. Aged 16 McKillen jo ...

. He was involved in several insolvency proceedings during the 1990s, including of the ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'', business interests of

Larry Goodman Laurence "Larry" Goodman (born 15 September 1937) is an Irish businessman, chiefly involved in the beef processing industry. He is the 6th generation of a livestock and meat exporting family and founded what is now ABP Food Group in 1954. He is ...

and

Windmill Lane Studios Windmill Lane Recording Studios (earlier Windmill Lane Studios) is a recording studio in Dublin, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1978 by Brian Masterson and James Morris in premises at 22 Windmill Lane, and it subsequently relocated to its cu ...

. He appeared for the administrators of businesses of

Seán Quinn John Ignatius Quinn, commonly known as Seán Quinn (born 5 December 1947), is an Irish businessman and conglomerateur. In 2008 he was the richest person in the Republic of Ireland, but in 2012 he was declared bankrupt. The '' Sunday Times Ric ...

in the 2010s. He has acted at the Valuation Tribunal. He appeared in the High Court for the

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of cor ...

against ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' and

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

. He also appeared in court for the

Smithwick Tribunal The Smithwick Tribunal was an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public inquiries in the Republic of Ireland, Tribunal of Inquiry into the events surrounding the 1989 Jonesborough ambush, killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robe ...

. He was the lead counsel for the Competition Authority's case against the Beef Industry Development Society in the Irish courts and the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

. The case was important in

European Union competition law European competition law is the competition law in use within the European Union. It promotes the maintenance of competition within the European Single Market by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies to ensure that they do not crea ...

for determining "by object" restrictions in cartels. He acted for Ireland regarding the

EU illegal State aid case against Apple in Ireland On 29 August 2016, after a two-year investigation, Margrethe Vestager of the European Commission announced: "Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple". The Commission ordered Apple to pay €13 billion, plus interest, in unpaid I ...

. He represented

Brian Curtin Brian Curtin (b. 1951/52) is a former barrister and Irish circuit court judge, who was tried for possessing images of child pornography. After the case collapsed, the question of whether Curtin could continue as a judge became the focus of politi ...

in impeachment proceedings before the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

and the

Attorney General of Ireland The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...

in a case surrounding defamation proceedings being taken by two of the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Cou ...

. He became the chairperson of the

in October 2010. He was reappointed again in 2016. He became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of the King's Inns in 2017.

Judicial career

His appointment to the High Court was made in April 2018. He has been a member of the Commercial Court since October 2018 and as of 2021 he is the judge in charge of the Commercial Court. He has heard cases involving insolvency, injunctions, personal injuries, child law, judicial review, and constitutional law. In 2020, he determined an appeal by

Perrigo Perrigo Company plc is an American Irish–registered manufacturer of private label over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, and while 70% of Perrigo's net sales are from the U.S. healthcare system, Perrigo is legally headquartered in Ireland for tax ...

against a decision of the

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners ( ga, Na Coimisinéirí Ioncaim), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the A ...

regarding a €1.6 billion tax liability. He was the judge in charge of personal insolvency matters until 2019. He presided in a personal insolvency case involving Frank McNamara. A three-judge division of the High Court, in which he was a member with the President of the High Court

Mary Irvine Mary Irvine (born 10 December 1956) is an Irish judge who was the President of the Irish High Court between 2020 and 2022. She first practiced as a barrister. She was a judge of the High Court between 2007 and 2014. She was a judge of the Cou ...

and Niamh Hyland, sat in June 2020.

Ivana Bacik Ivana Catherine Bacik (born 25 May 1968) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Leader of the Labour Party since 24 March 2022 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since winning a by-election on 9 July 2 ...

was the lead plaintiff in an action taken against the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

to ask the court if

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

could sit without the

nominated members of Seanad Éireann The composition of Seanad Éireann, one of the two houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) of Ireland, is set out in Article 18 of the Constitution of Ireland. This provides for 60 Senators, of whom 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach who is appoint ...

. The three judges held that it could not.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Denis Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Irish barristers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns Year of birth missing (living people)