Dermot Gleeson
Dermot Gleeson SC is an Irish barrister who served as Attorney General of Ireland from 1994 to 1997.
Educated in Blackrock College, Dublin and University College, Dublin. Gleeson holds B.A. and LL.M degrees and qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns, Dublin. His father was a barrister and was later appointed a Circuit Court Judge and some of his brothers also work as lawyers. Called to the Irish bar in 1970 he first practised outside of Dublin, Ireland's main legal centre, on the Cork Circuit. In the early 1970s he was a part-time lecturer in Constitutional Law at University College Cork.
He then moved to Dublin when he was appointed a Senior Counsel in 1979, at age 30.
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, he was chief legal advisor to the government of Taoiseach John Bruton, serving as Attorney General of Ireland. Gleeson is a Bencher of King's Inns. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the School of Law at University College, Dublin. In more recent years he has become known for his business career. In 2000, he joined the board of Independent News and Media Plc as a non-executive director and in 2003, he was appointed Chairman of Ireland's largest bank Allied Irish Banks. His time in charge of AIB resulted in the enormous drops in the share price, leading to the infamous 'egging' incident at the May 2009 shareholder's meeting. In 2003, he was appointed ombudsman for the Diamond Trading Company, the marketing offshoot of diamond mining giant De Beers. In 2007, he was appointed chairman of the Governing Body of University College, Cork.
Gleeson is a former Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society, University College Dublin, and winner of the Irish Times National Debating Championship.
He currently resides in Dublin. He is married and has four children.
