Michael McDowell was born in Dublin, Ireland and was educated at the private Jesuit school Gonzaga College and then at University College Dublin and King's Inns in Dublin where he qualified as a Barrister . McDowell was part of the legal team that defended Malcolm MacArthur, the murderer (see GUBU ). He became involved in politics, supporting Fine Gael at first. When Des O'Malley was expelled from Fianna Fáil in 1985 McDowell was one of the people who helped him found the Progressive Democrats . He is the husband of U.C.D accountancy Professor Niamh Brennan and brother of U.C.D. economics lecturer Moore McDowell . He is also the grandson of Irish scholar and revolutionary Eoin MacNeill .
McDowell was first elected to Dáil Éireann following the 1987 General Election . He lost his seat in the 1989 Election but was made Chairman of the Party. McDowell regained his seat in the 1992 Election but lost it again in the 1997 Election . He has served as a member of the PD front bench acting as spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Northern Ireland and Finance. In July 1999 McDowell was appointed Attorney-General Of Ireland , a position he held until 2002 .
Following the 2002 General Election McDowell regained his Dáil seat. He was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister For Justice, Equality & Law Reform . He has been a strong opponent of Sinn Féin and the IRA , and often takes a harder line than his coalition partners, Fianna Fáil . He is admired by many Unionists in Northern Ireland for this stance, but often heavily criticised by some of his compatriots for his brusque manner.
As Justice Minister, he has attracted a good deal of controversy:
- He has sped up Deportation of failed Asylum Seeker s, including one case in 2005 where a student preparing for his Leaving Certificate examinations was deported back to Nigeria . After a public outcry, McDowell allowed his return.
- In February 2005, he accused the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams of being a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army 's Army Council .
- In 2005, he announced plans to introduce Anti-social Behaviour Order s, although not in the same form as those in the United Kingdom.
- In 2003, he banned under-18s from Pub s after 9pm. This regulation was highly unpopular and was later relaxed to 10pm during the summer months.
- Other changes to drinking laws of the State included prohibiting drinks promotions, as well as making it legal for Publicans to refuse entry to those under 21. This is despite the fact that the legal age to drink in all establishments in the Republic is 18. This change was incompatible with existing equality legislation, so this legislation also had to be altered. Many of the changes introduced in this reform of the licenced trade soon began to be ignored or avoided in practice; the only lasting effects being the ban mentioned above, and the allowance of age discrimination against those between 18 and 21.
- Tried to liberalise the drinks industry in an attempt to bring in a more European cafe-style drink culture, this initiative was dropped due to objections from publicans and members of his coalition partners, Fianna Fail.
- He has reformed the private security industry, regulating it for the first time ever.
- He has launched reforms of the Garda Siochána (the national police force), although many say the reforms don't go far enough.
- On 13/12/05 he claimed that Frank Connolly, a journalist with Republican sympathies and a brother of one of the 'Colombia Three', had travelled to Colombia under a false passport. This accusation led to the withdrawal of funding from the Centre For Public Inquiry , an investigative organisation of which Frank Connolly was the director.
- On 20 March 2006, he apologized for remarks he made comparing the Opposition spokesperson on Justice, Richard Bruton TD, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels {Link without Title} .
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