George M. Birmingham is a High Court judge and former Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 politician.

George Birmingham was born in Dublin in 1954. He was educated at St. Paul's College, Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 and King's Inns

King's Inns

The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...

 where he qualified as a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

. He first became involved in politics in 1979 when he became a member of Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.-Legal status:...

. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 at the 1981 general election

Irish general election, 1981

The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

 as Teachta Dála

Teachta Dála

A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for Dublin North Central

Dublin North Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Dublin North–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies...

. Between 1982 and 1986 he served as a Minister of State

Minister of State (Ireland)

A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-Cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland....

 under Taoiseach

Taoiseach

The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...

 at the Departments of Education

Department of Education and Science (Ireland)

The Department of Education and Skills is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Education and Skills who is assisted by two Ministers of State.-Departmental team:...

 and Labour and Foreign Affairs The party lost power in 1987 and Birmingham lost his Dáil seat in the 1989 general election

Irish general election, 1989

The Irish general election of 1989 was held on Thursday, 15 June 1989, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 25 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 26th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 29 June...

. Between 1989 and 2007 he worked as a barrister, becoming a Senior Counsel

Senior Counsel

The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...

 in 1999. On 3 May 2007 the Irish Independent

Irish Independent

The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

 announced that he had been selected to become a High Court judge.

George Birmingham was the sole member of the Commission of Investigation into the Dean Lyons case

Grangegorman killings

The Grangegorman killings were the killings on 6 March 1997 of Sylvia Shields and Mary Callinan, patients of St Brendan’s Psychiatric Hospital in Grangegorman, Dublin, Ireland. After giving a false confession, Dean Lyons was charged with the murders and placed on remand...

.

External links

• George Birmingham's electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)