David Byrne SC (born 6 April 1947) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...

politician and barrister who served as Chancellor of

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Cre ...

from 2006 to 2011, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from 1999 to 2004 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 ...

from 1997 to 1999.

Early life and career

Byrne was born in

Monasterevin Monasterevin (), also Monasterevan, and Mevin is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. The town lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. The population was 4,246 at the 2016 Census. Location and Access Si ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the ...

, in 1947. He was educated at Newbridge College,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. 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 (un ...

in 1970, and practiced law in the Irish and European Courts. During his student days in Dublin, he founded the Free Legal Advice Centre, a student-run organisation providing legal aid to citizens in association with the legal profession. He campaigned in favour of Irish entry into the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

in the 1970s, and has been a keen supporter of

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

ever since. Byrne became a Senior Counsel in 1985. He practised in both 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 Unio ...

, and also served as a member of the International Court of Commercial Arbitration from 1990 to 1997. In 1997, Byrne became

in the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

coalition government. As one of the negotiators of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Nor ...

in April 1998, he drafted and oversaw the major constitutional amendments required by that agreement, which were approved by Referendum in May 1998. Byrne also advised on the constitutional amendments necessary for Ireland's ratification of the

Amsterdam Treaty The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

. During his tenure, he established the first independent Food Safety Agency in Europe responsible to the Minister of Health.

European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection

Byrne was nominated to the European Commission by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of 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 legislature) and the offi ...

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 ...

in September 1999, serving as Ireland's EU Commissioner, and had responsibility for Health and Consumer Protection in the

Prodi Commission The Prodi Commission was the European Commission in office between 1999 and 2004. The administration was led by former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. History The commission took office on 16 September 1999 following the scandal and su ...

. He continued in that role until replaced as Ireland's Commissioner by

Charlie McCreevy Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trade fr ...

in 2004. During his time in office, Byrne was a major driving force behind European tobacco control legislation, such as directives banning tobacco advertising and regulating tobacco products, in keeping with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Under his leadership, the European Union also created the

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, ...

in 2004.

World Health Organization

When he concluded his Brussels assignment, Byrne acted as WHO Special Envoy on the revision of the

International Health Regulations The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are a legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that aims for international collaboration "to pr ...

for a six-month period following a series of outbreaks of

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, '' s ...

and

avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.

. Byrne was mooted as a potential candidate for the position of

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

following the death of the incumbent, Dr Lee Jong-wook in 2006. However, he was eventually not included in the list of 13 candidates to head the agency.

Life after politics

After leaving the European Commission, Byrne has held a variety of paid and unpaid positions, including the following: * European Alliance for Personalised Medicine, Co-Chair *

FleishmanHillard FleishmanHillard Inc. (formerly, Fleishman–Hillard) is a public relations and marketing agency founded and based in St. Louis, Missouri. It was acquired by Omnicom Group in 1997, becoming part of the Diversified Agency Services (DAS) division. ...

, Member of the International Advisory Board * Health First Europe (HFE), Patron * International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI), Chairman of the Ethics Committee * National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), Chairman of the Advisory Committee *

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...

, Of counsel *

World Justice Project The World Justice Project (WJP) is an international civil society organization with the stated mission of "working to advance the rule of law around the world". It produces the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, a quantitative assessment ...

, Honorary Co-ChairHonorary Chairs

. *

World Prevention Alliance In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, Member

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, David 1947 births People educated at Newbridge College Alumni of Dublin City University Irish barristers Alumni of King's Inns Politicians from County Kildare Fianna Fáil politicians Attorneys General of Ireland Irish European Commissioners Chancellors of Dublin City University Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr people Living people European Commissioners 1999–2004