Paul Anthony McDermott

Paul Anthony McDermott (4 February 1972 – 10 December 2019)[1] was an Irish lawyer and academic. He was a prominent criminal barrister who often prosecuted cases in the Irish superior courts. He was also known as a lecturer in law at University College Dublin and for frequent commentary on legal matters in the Irish media.

For other people named Paul McDermott, see Paul McDermott (disambiguation).
Paul Anthony McDermott

SC PhD
Born(1972-02-04)4 February 1972
London, United Kingdom
Died10 December 2019(2019-12-10) (aged 47)
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
EducationUniversity College Dublin
University of Cambridge
King's Inns
Occupation
  • Barrister
  • Academic
Spouse(s)Annick
Children2

Early life and education

McDermott was born in London and studied in St Paul's College, Raheny when his family returned to Ireland.[1] He studied law at University College Dublin, at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and at the King's Inns.[2] He held a PhD from UCD.[3][4] He won the Irish Times Debate for the King's Inns in 1996.[5]

Career

He was called to the bar in 1996 and became a Senior Counsel in 2015.[6]

McDermott was a prominent criminal lawyer. He appeared with Úna Ní Raifeartaigh and Paul O'Higgins in actions taken on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions against Seán FitzPatrick arising out of the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank.[7] He successfully represented the State in the High Court in the first Irish case to consider the admissibility of CCTV evidence.[8][9]

He frequently represented the Data Protection Commissioner,[10] including in the European Court of Justice in 2017 in a case which found that professional exam papers and examiner comments constitute personal data.[11] He often appeared on behalf of the Law Society of Ireland and the Medical Council of Ireland in prosecuting professional malpractice cases.[12][13] He also worked with the Central Bank of Ireland in inquiries, including into Quinn Insurance and the misselling of tracker mortgage products by Irish banks.[14][15]

He taught criminal law at University College Dublin and the law of evidence at the Law Society of Ireland.[2][3] He co-authored a text on Irish criminal law with Peter Charleton and Marguerite Bolger and co-authored a book on the law of contract in Ireland with his brother James McDermott.[16][17][1] He wrote a regular column for The Sunday Times for over 10 years.[3]

McDermott frequently appeared on Irish television and radio as a commentator on legal matters.[18] He often appeared on Morning Ireland, Today with Seán O'Rourke, RTÉ News: Six One, and Newstalk on legal topics such as criminal and constitutional law.[19][20][21][22] He received attention for his analysis and comments on the referendum to establish the Court of Appeal and the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.[23][24] In 2017, a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court was collapsed by the judge after the jury heard comments McDermott made describing the defence of provocation in an unrelated discussion on Prime Time.[25]

Personal life and death

McDermott was married to Annick and had two sons.[26] He died on 10 December 2019 after an illness.[18] The Minister for Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan said he paid tribute to him as a "talented barrister, popular lecturer & entertaining newspaper columnist".[27] Micheál P. O’Higgins, the Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland, said he was "unparalleled" in his "ability to explain complex legal subjects and distil them for better public understanding".[26] The Irish Times concluded that he was "destined" to join the judiciary.[1] His funeral took place in Newman University Church on 14 December 2019 and was attended by the President Michael D. Higgins, the Chief Justice Frank Clarke and the Attorney General Séamus Woulfe.[28]

gollark: Actually, I worship all possible gods in equal amounts.
gollark: (μahahaha)
gollark: If I got to pick the game, it would be Factorio or something, and also I would have several hours of lead time.
gollark: The modern version would probably be "1v1 me in [COMPUTER GAME OF SOME KIND]".
gollark: Current Discord culture does not really care.

References
  1. "Paul Anthony McDermott obituary: Leading lawyer and academic destined for the bench". The Irish Times. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. "UCD Law Summer School" (PDF). UCD. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. "UCD law lecturer Paul Anthony McDermott SC has died". www.lawsociety.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. "About the Speakers" (PDF). University of Oxford. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. Connolly, John. "Presenting future stars?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  6. "Paul Anthony McDermott SC". Archived from the original on 29 October 2017.
  7. "Anglo trial trio are DPP best-paid barristers". www.irishexaminer.com. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  8. Atherton v DPP, [2005] IEHC 429 (High Court 2005).
  9. McIntyre, T. J. "High Court gives disappointing decision on video surveillance". Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  10. Managh, Ray. "Ex-candidate wants Google to take down 'homophobe' claims". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  11. Peter Nowak v Data Protection Commissioner, C‑434/16 (European Court of Justice 20 December 2017).
  12. "Solicitor struck off over €1.4m deficit in clients' funds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  13. "Doctor 'fabricated' sick notes as excuse for not sitting exam". Independent.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  14. Brennan, Joe. "Ex-Quinn CEO signed documents that would threaten insurance company, inquiry hears". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  15. "Central Bank enlists senior counsel and lawyers to build cases against bankers". Irish Legal News. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  16. McDermott, PA; Bolger, Marguerite; Charleton, Peter. Criminal law. Butterworths. ISBN 9781854758453.
  17. McDermott, Paul Anthony; McDermott, James. Contract law (2nd ed.). ISBN 9781780432250.
  18. O'Donnell, Orla (10 December 2019). "Tributes to barrister Paul Anthony McDermott". RTÉ News. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  19. "Debate rages over Irish abortion vote". 30 January 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  20. "Today With Sean O Rourke Thursday 3 May 2018". Today with Sean O'Rourke. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  21. "RTÉ News: Barrister Paul Anthony McDermott explains the issues facing the commission". www.rte.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  22. "Trial collapse raises questions over jury system". Newstalk. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  23. "New Court of Appeal not the solution says constitutional lawyer". Breaking News. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  24. "Cabinet approves abortion referendum bill". BBC News. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  25. Reid, Natasha. "Murder trial collapses due to RTÉ 'Prime Time' discussion". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  26. "STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF PAUL ANTHONY MCDERMOTT SC". Bar Council. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  27. McGrath, Dominic. "Irish barrister Paul Anthony McDermott has died aged 47". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  28. McGreevy, Ronan. "Paul Anthony McDermott a 'fantastic father' with 'great sense of justice', funeral hears". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
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