Dermot Gleeson SC (born 12 November 1949) is an Irish

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who served as

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 ...

from 1994 to 1997. Educated in

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary secondary school, voluntary day school, day and boarding school, boarding Catholicism, Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, Dublin, Bl ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. Gleeson holds

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degrees and qualified as a barrister at 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 ...

. His father was a barrister and was later appointed a Circuit Court Judge, and two of his brothers are also barristers. Gleeson was called to the Irish bar in 1970 and first practised law on the Cork Circuit, away from Dublin, Ireland's main legal centre. In the early 1970s Gleeson was a part-time lecturer in Constitutional Law at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

. Gleeson moved to Dublin when he was appointed 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 1979, at age 30. He is believed to be the youngest 'silk' appointed in the common law world in the last century, beating noted counsel such as the Australian QC Tony Morriss, who was made a silk at 32. Gleeson was a leading barrister in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s before he became a senior government advisor and then a businessman. From 1994–1997, Gleeson was

, serving as chief legal advisor to the government of

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 ...

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of ...

. Gleeson is a Bencher of King's Inns. He is also a visiting fellow at the School of Law at

. In more recent years Gleeson became known for his business career. In 2000, he joined the board of

Independent News and Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...

Plc as a non-executive director and in 2003, he was appointed Chairman of Ireland's largest bank

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 ...

. His time in charge of AIB Group coincided with the

Global Financial Crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

, which resulted in the enormous drops in its share price, leading to the infamous 'egging' incident at AIB Group's May 2009 shareholder's meeting. In 2003, Gleeson was appointed ombudsman for the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), the marketing offshoot of diamond mining giant

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

. In 2007, he was appointed chairman of the Governing Body of

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. Gleeson is a former Auditor of the

Literary and Historical Society, University College Dublin The Literary and Historical Society (L&H) is the oldest society in University College Dublin (UCD), which according to its constitution is the 'College Debating Union'. Founded in 1855 by Cardinal John Henry Newman, it is one of the most well-known ...

, and winner of the

Irish Times National Debating Championship The Irish Times National Debating Championship is a debating competition for students in higher education in Ireland. It has been run since 1960, sponsored by ''The Irish Times''. While most participants represent institutions in the Republic of ...

. He currently resides in Dublin. He is married and has four children.

References

External links

* http://lawlibrary.ie/members/barrister.asp?barID=72 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Dermot Living people Allied Irish Banks Attorneys General of Ireland Auditors of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin) Businesspeople from County Cork 20th-century Irish lawyers People educated at Blackrock College 1949 births Alumni of King's Inns Irish Senior Counsel Lawyers from County Cork 21st-century Irish lawyers

See also

References

External links