Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has candidly addressed her pre-political career as a barrister, admitting she represented banking institutions in court during Ireland’s financial crash, amid intensifying scrutiny in the race for Áras an Uachtaráin.
Speaking to reporters at the ALONE charity offices in Dublin today, Ms Connolly, 68, responded to questions about allegations she handled home repossession cases. “I functioned as a barrister for every side – for people who had committed offences for banking institutions, for people on the other side of the pitch, people going under in terms of orders for possession,” she said. “Absolutely, that’s the work of a barrister.”, reports RTE.
The remarks follow a resurfaced 2020 video clip from a heated Galway City Council debate, where Fine Gael councillor Frank Fahy accused Ms Connolly of working on repossessions for a “Celtic Tiger lender” like Bank of Scotland Ireland, despite her vocal advocacy on housing and homelessness. It’s been dismissed the claim then as a cowardly personal attack.
Called to the Bar in 1991 after studying law at University of Galway, Ms Connolly balanced her legal practice with clinical psychology before entering politics as a Labour councillor in 1999. She left the party in 2006 and was elected TD for Galway West in 2016, later becoming the first female Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
Critics, including Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, have seized on the revelation to question her progressive credentials. Supporters praise her impartiality, arguing it equips her for “compassionate diplomacy” as president. Polling day looms on October 31, with Ms Connolly backed by left-leaning parties, trailing Humphreys and Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin.
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