Michael McDowell

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Michael McDowell

Tánaiste

Periods in office:
13 September 2006–present
Predecessor(s) Mary Harney
Successor(s) Incumbent
Born May 1951
Dublin, Ireland
Political party Progressive Democrats
Constituency Dublin South East

Michael McDowell (Irish: Mícheál Mac Dubhghaill; born May, 1951) is the leader of the Progressive Democrats. He is a TD for Dublin South East and is Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform. He has previously been the Attorney General of Ireland (1999–2002) and was also the President of the Progressive Democrats. He is a grandson of Eoin MacNeill, also a politician[1] and founder of the Irish Volunteers and co-founder of the Gaelic League.

Contents

[edit] Life before election to the Dáil

Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was educated at the Jesuit school Gonzaga College and then at University College Dublin and King's Inns in Dublin where he qualified as a barrister in 1974. He was appointed a Senior Counsel in 1987 when he was 35 years old. McDowell was part of the legal team that defended Malcolm MacArthur.[2] He became involved in politics, initially supporting Fine Gael. When Desmond O'Malley was expelled from Fianna Fáil in 1985 McDowell was one of the people who helped him establish the Progressive Democrats. He is the husband of UCD accountancy Professor Niamh Brennan and brother of UCD economics lecturer Moore McDowell.

[edit] Career in the Dáil and Attorney General

McDowell was one of 14 Progressive Democrat TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1987 general election, the first election after the party was founded. He lost his seat in the 1989 election but was made Chairman of the Party. McDowell regained his seat in the 1992 election but lost it again in the 1997 election. At various times, he served as a member of the Progressive Democrat front bench in roles as spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Northern Ireland and Finance. In July 1999 McDowell was appointed Attorney-General of Ireland[3], a position he held until 2002. In 2000 he suggested changing the name of the party to the Radical Party but to no avail.[4]

[edit] Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Following the 2002 General Election McDowell regained his Dáil seat. He was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform. He has been a strong opponent of Sinn Féin and the IRA, and often takes a harder line than his coalition partners, Fianna Fáil. He is admired[citation needed] by many unionists in Northern Ireland for this stance.

As Justice Minister, he has attracted a good deal of controversy:

  • He speeded up deportation of failed asylum seekers, including one case in 2005 where a student, Olunkunle Eluhanla who while preparing for his Leaving Certificate examinations was deported back to Nigeria. After a public outcry, McDowell allowed his return.
  • In February 2005, he accused the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams of being a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's Army Council.
  • In 2005, he announced plans to introduce anti-social behaviour orders, although not in the same form as those in the United Kingdom.
  • In 2004 McDowell called killings by gangs as the “sting of a dying wasp”, intimating that gangland killings were at an end. Murders have continued relentlessly[5] while in December 2006, McDowell is quoted as telling gardai to get lucky.[1] McDowell under attack for telling gardai to 'get lucky'
  • The Gardai under McDowell's watch have been extensively criticised by the Morris Tribunal and Barr Tribunal.
  • In 2003, he banned under-18s from pubs after 9pm. This regulation was highly unpopular and was later relaxed to 10pm during the summer months.
  • Other changes to drinking laws of the State included prohibiting drinks promotions, as well as making it legal for publicans to refuse entry to those under 21.[6] This change was incompatible with existing equality legislation, so that legislation also had to be altered.
  • He tried to liberalise the drinks industry in an attempt to bring in a more European cafe-style drink culture by granting licenses for cafe-bar which would have a limited capacity and serve meals as well as alcohol. This initiative was dropped due to objections from publicans and members of his coalition partners, Fianna Fáil.
  • He has reformed the private security industry, regulating it for the first time.
  • He has launched reforms of the Garda Siochána.
  • On 13 December 2005, using Dáil privilege[7], he claimed that Frank Connolly, a journalist with Republican sympathies and a brother of one of the 'Colombia Three', had travelled to Colombia under a false passport. This accusation led to the withdrawal of funding from the Centre for Public Inquiry, an investigative organisation of which Frank Connolly was the director. He subsequently leaked a confidential Garda file to journalist Sam Smyth of the Irish Independent[2].
  • On 20 March 2006, he apologised for remarks he made comparing the Opposition spokesperson on Justice, Richard Bruton TD, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. He had made these remarks after Bruton had highlighted to the Dáil that despite McDowell's claims of increases in Garda personnel in 2005, only 6 extra gardai had been added to the Dublin police force in that year.
  • In May 2006, the Irish Supreme Court struck down the law on statutory rape as unconstitutional as it did not allow an individual accused to enter the defence of reasonable belief that the victim was of age. McDowell was widely criticised for failing to anticipate the decision.
  • On 27 September 2006 he criticised[8] the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for accepting money from businessmen in 1993 and 1994, calling it un-ethical and an error of judgement and said that the money must be repaid with interest. The statement was greeted with derision by the Opposition, with Fine Gael claiming it was motivated by the PDs determination to keep Fianna Fáil in power. Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the PDs were now handcuffed to Fianna Fáil for the duration of this Dáil, and that there might as well be single-party Government.
  • In 2006 McDowell proposed a privacy bill, that will put a ban on the use of information gained from public records and a provision whereby a range of court hearings may be heard in private.
  • As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, he has stated occasionaly in media interviews, as answer to questions that:

    I see what I see and I know what I know.

    [3]

[edit] Party Leadership

In June 2006, McDowell was involved in a leadership dispute with party leader Mary Harney, over an alleged promise by Harney to step down in favour of him. The dispute appeared to have been resolved with Harney remaining as leader.[9] On 7 September 2006, Mary Harney unexpectedly resigned as party leader and McDowell became the favourite to succeed her in the consequent leadership election. Irish media reported on 10 September 2006 indicated that Michael McDowell would be the sole nominee for party leadership, Liz O'Donnell would become Deputy Leader and that Tom Parlon would become Party President.[10] On 11 September 2006 McDowell was confirmed as party leader[11] and on 13 September 2006, he was appointed Tánaiste. McDowell receives a salary of €222,256 in his new role.[12]

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ McNeill served as Minister for Finance and Minister for Education in the First and Second Dáil.
  2. ^ A notorious case in which MacArthur, who had murdered two people, was found in the apartment of the then Attorney General leading to the description by Charles Haughey of the incident as GUBU.
  3. ^ In a coalition government of his party with Fianna Fáil.
  4. ^ PDs reject radical name change
  5. ^ There were 25 gun killings in Ireland in 2006 to 13 December 2006.
  6. ^ This is despite the fact that the legal age to drink in all establishments in the Republic is 18.
  7. ^ This means one cannot be sued for defamation due to any speech made in either house.
  8. ^ McDowell says Ahern made 'error of judgement'
  9. ^ Harney and McDowell in dispute over leadership pact — The Irish Times newspaper article, 22 June 2006
  10. ^ McDowell to take over PD leadership — RTE website article, 10 September 2006
  11. ^ McDowell confirmed as new PD leader — RTE website article, 13 September 2006
  12. ^ Report on Higher Remuneration, 2005. Department of Finance. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.

[edit] Political career

Political offices
Preceded by:
David Byrne		 Attorney General of Ireland
1999–2002		 Succeeded by:
Rory Brady
Preceded by:
John O'Donoghue		 Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform
2002 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by:
Mary Harney		 Leader of the Progressive Democrats
11 September 2006 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by:
Mary Harney		 Tánaiste
15 September 2006 – present		 Incumbent
Deputy Prime Ministers of Ireland
Tánaistithe na hÉireann		 Government of Ireland

Seán T. O'Kelly | Seán Lemass | William Norton | Seán MacEntee | Frank Aiken | Erskine H. Childers | Brendan Corish | George Colley | Michael O'Leary | Ray MacSharry | Dick Spring | Peter Barry | Brian Lenihan | John P. Wilson | Bertie Ahern | Mary Harney | Michael McDowell

Vice-Presidents of the Executive Council
Kevin O'Higgins | Ernest Blythe | Seán T. O'Kelly


Leaders of the Progressive Democrats
Desmond O'Malley (1985–1993) | Mary Harney (1993–2006) | Michael McDowell (2006–)

This page incorporates information from the Oireachtas Members Database

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