Michael McDowell
|
Minister Michael McDowell TD |
Michael McDowell (born May,
1951) is a senior Irish
Progressive Democrats politician. He is a
Teachta Dála (TD) for
Dublin South East and is currently the
Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform. He has previously been the
Attorney General of Ireland (1999-2002) and is also the President of the Progressive Democrats.
Michael McDowell was born in
Dublin, Ireland and was educated at the private Jesuit school
Gonzaga College and then at
University College Dublin and
King's Inns in Dublin where he qualified as a
barrister. McDowell was part of the legal team that defended Malcolm MacArthur, the murderer (see
GUBU). He became involved in politics, supporting
Fine Gael at first. When
Des O'Malley was expelled from
Fianna Fáil in
1985 McDowell was one of the people who helped him found the
Progressive Democrats. He is the husband of
UCD accountancy Professor Niamh Brennan and brother of
UCD economics lecturer
Moore McDowell. He is also the grandson of Irish scholar and revolutionary
Eoin MacNeill. He suggested changing the name of his party to the Radical Party in
2000, but to no avail [
1].
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. He has served as a member of the PD front bench acting as spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Northern Ireland and Finance. In July
1999 McDowell was appointed
Attorney-General of Ireland, a position he held until
2002.
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 by many
unionists in
Northern Ireland for this stance, but often heavily criticised by some of his compatriots for his brusque manner.
As Justice Minister, he has attracted a good deal of controversy:
* He has sped 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 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. This is despite the fact that the legal age to drink in all establishments in the Republic is 18. This change was incompatible with existing equality legislation, so this legislation also had to be altered. Many of the changes introduced in this reform of the licenced trade soon began to be ignored or avoided in practice; the only lasting effects being the ban mentioned above, and the allowance of age discrimination against those between 18 and 21.
* Tried to liberalise the drinks industry in an attempt to bring in a more European cafe-style drink culture by granting licenses for "cafe-bars" 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 ever.
*He has launched reforms of the
Garda Siochána (the national police force).
*On
13 December 2005, using Dáil privilege (which means one cannot be sued for defamation due to any speech made in either house), 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.
*On
20 March 2006, he apologized for remarks he made comparing the Opposition spokesperson on Justice, Richard Bruton TD, to Nazi propaganda minister
Joseph Goebbels [
2]. He had made these remarks after Mr. Bruton had highlighted to the Dáil that despite Mr. McDowells claims of increases in Garda personnel in 2005, a mere 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 was unconstitutional as it did not allow an individual accused to enter the defense of reasonable belief that the victim was of age. McDowell was widely criticised for failing to anticipate the decision.
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 appears to have been resolved with Harney remaining as leader.
[Harney and McDowell in dispute over leadership pact — The Irish Times newspaper article, 22 June 2006]*
Progressive Democrats' Website*
Michael McDowell's electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)
