Joseph (J.E.) Emmanuel Triay QC (5 October 1931 – 3 July 2012) was a

Gibraltarian The Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterran ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and politician, best known for having been one of the promoters of the ''

Doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

'' in the 1960s. Joseph Triay's daughter Cristina is married to

Peter Caruana Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) is a Gibraltarian former politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1996 to 2011 and Leader of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) from 1991 to 2013. Caruana is a barrister by pr ...

, former

Chief Minister of Gibraltar The chief minister of Gibraltar is the head of His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representative of the British monarch. The incumbent chief ...

Education and legal career

Son to S.P. Triay QC, J.E. was born in

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in October 1931, and educated at an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

. He was called to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and 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 Gibraltar in 1952 and became Queen's Counsel in 1982. Following the sudden death of his father, J.E. and his brother, J.J. inherited their father's

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

later to become Triay & Triay.

Political career and controversy

At the height of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's campaign against Gibraltar in his attempt to claim its sovereignty during the 1960s, J.E. was involved in great controversy when he, as one of the group calling themselves the ''

'' advocated a political settlement with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and made contact with the

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of the time. The Gibraltarian public reaction was to revolt, bringing about the worst and most violent riot in its recent history. The Triay & Triay chambers were ransacked and J.E. suffered a petrol bomb attack to his home shortly after the publication of a letter advocating such political settlement. His family were inside whilst the attack took place but no-one was harmed. His yacht, the ''Patricia E'', was the subject of an arson attack a few months later. Triay was involved in local politics during the 1970s. He stood for the 1976 election, as an independent, and in the 1980 election, as leader of the

Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar The Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar (PAG) was a minority right-wing political party in Gibraltar founded on 7 September 1977. It was led by Joseph Triay and advocated a rapprochement with Spain. It contended the 1980 election, without succe ...

. He later concentrated on his law practice and never spoke again publicly about politics.

Death

Triay died in July 2012 aged 80.

References

External links

Interview with Joseph Triay in 1977
in the Friends of Gibraltar Heritage Society newsletter #79. {{DEFAULTSORT:Triay, Joseph 1931 births 20th-century Gibraltarian lawyers Members of the Middle Temple Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar politicians 20th-century King's Counsel 2012 deaths Gibraltarian politicians Gibraltarian Queen's Counsel