Brian James Hillery (22 November 1937 – 19 January 2021) was an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

politician and finance executive who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from 1977 to 1982, 1983 to 1989 and 1992 to 1997 and a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

constituency from 1989 to 1992.

Academic and political career

Hillery studied at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD) and the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and worked in banking before joining the UCD faculty in 1967. He became the inaugural ESSO Professor of Industrial Relations in 1974. Hillery's uncle,

Patrick Hillery Patrick John Hillery (; 2 May 1923 – 12 April 2008) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the sixth president of Ireland from December 1976 to December 1990. He also served as vice-president of the European Commission and Europea ...

, was a Fianna Fáil TD and minister until 1973, and

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

from 1976 to 1990. In 1977, Brian Hillery was elected to the 14th Seanad as a Fianna Fáil Senator for the

Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Republic of Ireland, Ireland). The Administrative Panel elects seven senator ...

. In 1978, minister Gene Fitzgerald's suggestion that he chair the Commission on Industrial Relations was rejected by the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

as party-political. After unsuccessfully contesting the 1981 general election in

, 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. At the 1992 general election, he lost his Dáil seat, which Barry Desmond attributed to a lack of constituency work. He was then nominated to the 20th Seanad by Taoiseach

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...

. He resigned as Senator in May 1994 when he was appointed to the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...

(EBRD).

Public and private sector board member

From 1994 to 1997, Hillery was an executive director at the EBRD in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

representing

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He then became a director and, from 1999, chairman, of UniCredit's Irish operations at the Dublin

International Financial Services Centre International Financial Services Centre may refer to any of the following places: * International Financial Services Centre, Dublin The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC; ) is an area of central Dublin and part of the Central busi ...

. Public sector advisory bodies on which Hillery served include the Government Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector (1999–2007), the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission (2004–2014), and the Irish commission of the

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

(2002–2004). He was a director of the

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 2 ...

and Financial Regulator from April 2008 until the bodies were reformed in October 2010. 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. Hillery was founding chairman from 1997 to 2015 of

Providence Resources Providence Resources is an Irish oil and gas exploration company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange. Its primary activities are the exploration and development of hydrocarbons offshore Ireland and the United ...

, a hydrocarbon company established by

Tony O'Reilly Sir Anthony John Francis O'Reilly (7 May 1936 – 18 May 2024) was an Irish businessman and international rugby union player. He was known for his try scoring in rugby, his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from ...

. In 2003, he was appointed to the board of

Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formerly Independent News and Media, or INM) is a Belgian/Dutch-owned media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites in ...

, succeeding Tony O'Reilly as chairman in 2009 while O'Reilly remained chief executive. Hillery resigned in 2011 in the face of pressure from

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for several years. His bus ...

. He died in January 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillery, Brian 1937 births 2021 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 14th Seanad Members of the 15th Seanad Members of the 17th Seanad Members of the 18th Seanad Members of the 26th Dáil Members of the 20th Seanad Politicians from Dún Laoghaire Scholars and academics from County Clare Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Fianna Fáil senators Independent News & Media Alumni of University College Dublin Academics of University College Dublin University of Georgia alumni Politicians from County Clare Businesspeople from County Clare People from Milltown Malbay Labour Panel senators