Maurice O’Connell (5 May 1936 – 1 April 2019) was an Irish economist who served as

Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 20 ...

from 1994 to 2002. He also represented Ireland on the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

Governing Council from 1999 to 2001. O’Connell was born on the 5 May 1936, in

Moyvane Moyvane (), also sometimes known as Newtownsandes, is a small village in County Kerry in the south west of Ireland. It is situated off the N69 road between Listowel to the southwest and Tarbert to the north. The village of Knockanure lies ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

. His parents Thomas and Mary O'Connell were both teachers. He did St Michael's College Listowel, a school his grandfather taught for 50 years and was a founding member. He went on to attend

St Brendan's College, Killarney St Brendan's College, known locally as The Sem, is a secondary school in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland History St Brendan's is a Catholic Diocesan College, founded in 1860 by bishop David Moriarty as a boarding and day-school for boys under ...

. He went on to graduate from Maynooth Ecclesiastical College. He later obtained his MA in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. O’Connell just to follow in his parents' footsteps, embarked on the same career, teaching. He started teaching at International College St Gallen,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

for some and he returned to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland which became his living place, he joined the civil service in

with much of it he spent in the Department of Finance. He served as the administrative officer in 1962 and rose to become the secretary in charge of the Finance Division. He also became a member of the European Union Monetary Committee in 1998 until the summer of 1994.

Contribution in Irish Finance

During Irish pound criss in 1992, he led a role in defending the currency making mortgage rates rise 16pc, during devaluation and

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

which Ireland battled in the unit of the money to be replaced with euro. The change over took only one week into the new currency euro and banknotes and

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

were vast for transaction in the country that was in 2002. That alone makes the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

extend his term in office for the transition. Only € 129.4 million in banknotes and € 970 million in coins were distributed in preparation, the

Irish pound The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation unti ...

and

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in circulation had to be overseen in the first one and half months of 2002. He was among the founding governors of the

leading role in the production of banknotes and implementing several pieces of legislation. After retirement within some years, he was made to commission a review of the 18.7bn National Pension Reserve Fund by the

after recent market volatility.

Personal life

He was married to Marjorie Treacy with four children, two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Maurice 1936 births 2019 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Governors of the Central Bank of Ireland 20th-century Irish economists Alumni of University College Dublin