George Birmingham

Who is George Birmingham?

George Martin Birmingham is a High Court judge and former Irish Fine Gael politician.

George Birmingham was born in Dublin in 1954. He was educated at St. Paul's College, Trinity College, Dublin and King's Inns where he qualified as a barrister. He first became involved in politics in 1979 when he became a member of Dublin City Council. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1981 general election as Teachta Dála for the Dublin North–Central constituency. Between 1982 and 1986 he served as a Minister of State under Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald at the Departments of Education, Labour and Foreign Affairs. The party lost power in 1987 and Birmingham lost his Dáil seat at the 1989 general election. Between 1989 and 2007 he worked as a barrister, becoming a Senior Counsel in 1999. On 3 May 2007, it was announced that he had been selected to become a High Court judge.

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