Brian Moore McCracken (born 13 July 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 2002 to 2006 and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to 2002. He is an officer of

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

– ''Visitor of the College''.

Education and career

McCracken was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in 1934. He was educated at The High School, Dublin, and later at

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dub ...

and

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

Dublin. He became a barrister in 1957 and a senior counsel in 1975. McCracken was appointed a High Court judge in 1995 and was elevated to Ireland's

in 2002. His in-depth expertise in the field of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

law was widely recognised but he also had expertise in both chancery and commercial law.

McCracken Tribunal

Judge McCracken was appointed as the sole member of the McCracken Tribunal which was set up by the Bruton Government in February 1997 to investigate reports of secret payments by Ben Dunne Jnr. to former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

Charles Haughey and former cabinet Minister

Michael Lowry Michael Lowry (born 13 March 1953) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1987, currently for the Tipperary constituency. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications from ...

and others. The Tribunal heard evidence in July 1997 and produced a 100-page report the following month. This report found that Haughey had given untrue evidence under oath and that Lowry was ''knowingly assisted'' by Dunne in evading tax. As a result of the findings and revelation of substantial funds in secret Ansbacher accounts, owned by Haughey, the new Ahern Government established a more extensive follow-up, the

Moriarty Tribunal The Moriarty Tribunal, officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Michael ...

to investigate the financial affairs of the two politicians. Charles Haughey faced criminal charges for obstructing the work of the McCracken tribunal.Former PM in court
–

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

article, 6 October 1998. His trial on these charges was postponed indefinitely after the judge in the case found that he would not be able to get a fair trial following prejudicial comments by

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Tao ...

Mary Harney.High Court upholds ruling on Haughey trial
– RTÉ News report, 3 November 2000. Compared to the succeeding, and other tribunals, the McCracken Tribunal was praised for its efficiency in concluding within months. He retired from the Supreme Court on 12 July 2006.

External links

Report of the McCracken Tribunal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCracken, Brian 1934 births Living people 20th-century Irish lawyers People from County Cork Irish barristers Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Politics of the Republic of Ireland People educated at The High School, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns

Education and career

McCracken Tribunal

See also

External links

References