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Brian Hillery

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Brian Hillery
Senator
In office
17 February 1993 – 4 May 1994
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
In office
23 February 1983 – 11 June 1989
In office
27 October 1977 – 13 May 1982
ConstituencyLabour Panel
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1989 – November 1992
ConstituencyDún Laoghaire
Personal details
Born(1937-11-22)22 November 1937
Spanish Point, County Clare, Ireland
Died19 January 2021(2021-01-19) (aged 83)
Dublin, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Miriam Hillery
​
(m. 1973)​
RelationsPatrick Hillery (uncle)
Children5
Alma mater

Brian James Hillery (22 November 1937 – 19 January 2021) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and finance executive who served as a Senator from 1977 to 1982, 1983 to 1989 and 1992 to 1997 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 1989 to 1992.[1]

Academic and political career

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Hillery studied at University College Dublin (UCD) and the University of Georgia and worked in banking before joining the UCD faculty in 1967.[2] He became the inaugural ESSO Professor of Industrial Relations in 1974.[2][3]

Hillery's uncle, Patrick Hillery, was a Fianna Fáil TD and minister until 1973, and President of Ireland from 1976 to 1990.[4][5] In 1977, Brian Hillery was elected to the 14th Seanad as a Fianna Fáil Senator for the Administrative Panel. In 1978, minister Gene Fitzgerald's suggestion that he chair the Commission on Industrial Relations was rejected by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as party-political.[4][6] After unsuccessfully contesting the 1981 general election in Dún Laoghaire, he was returned to the 15th Seanad, serving from 1981 to 1982. He did not sit in the brief 16th Seanad, but was re-elected to the 17th Seanad in 1983, where he served until he was elected a TD for Dún Laoghaire at the 1989 general election.[7] At the 1992 general election, he lost his Dáil seat, which Barry Desmond attributed to a lack of constituency work.[8] He was then nominated to the 20th Seanad by Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. He resigned as Senator in May 1994 when he was appointed to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).[9][10]

Public and private sector board member

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From 1994 to 1997, Hillery was an executive director at the EBRD in London representing Ireland and Denmark.[10][11] He then became a director and, from 1999, chairman, of UniCredit's Irish operations at the Dublin International Financial Services Centre.[12][13] Public sector advisory bodies on which Hillery served include the Government Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector (1999–2007),[14] the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission (2004–2014),[15][16] and the Irish commission of the Fulbright Program (2002–2004).[17] He was a director of the Central Bank of Ireland and Financial Regulator from April 2008 until the bodies were reformed in October 2010.[16][18] The Oireachtas joint committee of inquiry into the post-2008 banking crisis initially intended to ask him to make a statement but did not proceed with this.[19]

Hillery was founding chairman from 1997 to 2015 of Providence Resources, a hydrocarbon company established by Tony O'Reilly.[20] In 2003, he was appointed to the board of Independent News & Media,[21] succeeding Tony O'Reilly as chairman in 2009 while O'Reilly remained chief executive.[22] Hillery resigned in 2011 in the face of pressure from Denis O'Brien.[23]

He died in January 2021.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Brian Hillery". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Hillery, Brian J." Archive of European Integration. University of Pittsburgh. 1111.
  3. ^ Carbery, Ronan; Gunnigle, Patrick; Morley, Michael (December 2015). "Human resource management research output in Ireland between 1950 and 2010: a retrospective". Irish Journal of Management. 34 (1): 43. doi:10.1515/ijm-2015-0005. hdl:10468/7758. ISSN 1649-248X.
  4. ^ a b Kennedy, Geraldine (15 February 1979). "A commission is no good in a strikes crisis". The Irish Times. p. 10. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. ^ O'Regan, Michael (16 April 2008). "Bishop's address 'Simple tribute' by fellow Clareman who remembers friend of 57 years". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ McEldowney, Eugene (3 December 1979). "What's a Labour Minister meant to do anyway?". The Irish Times. p. 10. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Brian Hillery". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  8. ^ Desmond, Barry (29 November 2007). "Swimming against the tide: A memoir by David Andrews gives a unique insight into Fianna Fáil in government". Magill.
  9. ^ "EBRD Appointment". Seanad Éireann (20th Seanad) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. 29 April 1994. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Appointments to European Boards". Written answers. KildareStreet.com. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Quinn names adviser to EBRD". The Irish Times. 20 June 1997. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Academic to be bank chairman". The Irish Times. 25 August 1999. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  13. ^ Beesley, Arthur (31 May 2005). "Italian bank nets €57m IFSC dividend". The Irish Times.
  14. ^ "Department of Finance: Review Body on Higher Remuneration". Written answers. KildareStreet.com. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Hillery for Pensions Reserve Fund body". Irish Independent. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 2 April 2020.; National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission (2015). "Annual report and financial statements 2014" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. ^ a b Lenihan, Brian (3 February 2010). "Minister for Finance: Appointments to State Boards". Written answers. KildareStreet.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  17. ^ Martin, Mícheál (3 February 2010). "Department of Foreign Affairs Appointments to State Boards". Written answers. KildareStreet.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  18. ^ "New appointments at Central Bank". 29 April 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2020.; "Annual Report 2010" (PDF). Central Bank of Ireland. 2011. pp. 69–70. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  19. ^ Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis (January 2016). "7.19 Notices or directions withdrawn or amended by the Joint Committee". Report (PDF). Vol. 2: Inquiry Framework. Oireachtas. p. 38. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  20. ^ Annual Report 2015. Providence Resources.
  21. ^ "Brian Hillery appointed to INM board". RTÉ. 19 December 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  22. ^ "O'Reilly to quit chair at IN&M but retains top post". The Irish Times. 29 June 2004. Retrieved 2 April 2020.; "O'Reilly steps down as INM Chairman". RTÉ. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  23. ^ Hancock, Ciaran (8 June 2012). "How the O'Reillys lost battle for INM". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  24. ^ "President leads tributes to Professor Brian Hillery". RTÉ News. 21 January 2021.
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