A Galway woman who confronted Catherine Connolly in 2016 about representing banks in repossession cases said she reposted a video of the encounter because Ms Connolly had put herself forward for the presidency.
“I’m sick and tired of this,” Ms Connolly said on the video when asked if she had been acting for banks. “I’m not going to discuss it now. I’m really tired of the poisonous campaign that has been put out.”
Ms Connolly, who stopped working as a barrister after she was elected to the Dáil in 2016, was known for working in family law, according to Galway lawyers who spoke off the record.
“She was one of the main family law barristers in Galway at the time,” said a solicitor who instructed her in such cases.
READ MORE
“Principally, she was in family law and personal injuries,” said a barrister who practised alongside her. “I would say she did very little work for the banks or repossession cases. There was a sort of clique at that time that specialised in that area.”
A woman barrister said at least half of Ms Connolly’s practice would have been family law “as is usually the case with most females on the western circuit”, with the rest of her practice being a mix of everything, including representing the banks.
“Certain people would have done most of the bank work,” the barrister said. “She certainly would not have been one of those.”
Galway woman Annmarie Folan said she confronted Ms Connolly over the issue of representing banks in 2016 and posted a video of the encounter on Facebook.
Ms Folan said she joined a protest outside the courts in Galway early that year during which she was told that Ms Connolly, then a councillor, was inside, representing the banks.
“I said, ‘You must be joking’,” she said. “I would have been a supporter of Catherine Connolly running [in the February 2016 general election]. We grew up on the same street.”
She did not speak to Ms Connolly on that occasion but did after the general election.
In the video, Ms Connolly said she had approached the protesters outside the courthouse on a day when Ms Folan had not been there and “the stuff coming out of their mouths was appalling. It was no way to talk to anyone.”
She refused to say whether she had represented banks in repossession cases, saying it was a professional matter.
Ms Folan said she decided to repost the video earlier this month because Ms Connolly was seeking election, and after Elijah Burke was removed by gardaí from an event in the University of Galway where he sought to ask questions of the candidate.
“He was escorted out by members of An Garda Síochána for asking a question,” she said. “We are in a sorry state in this country.”
The protest outside the Galway court attended by Ms Folan was organised by a group called the Hub that campaigned against bank repossessions.
Mark Parsons, who was an activist with the group, said he was in court in 2013 when Ms Connolly acted in a repossession case on behalf of a bank. The defendant in the case, he said, did not have legal representation. “None of the people we supported had [legal representation]. We don’t believe in the legal profession.”
Two of the Galway barristers who spoke to The Irish Times were strongly critical of Fine Gael for making an issue of Ms Connolly’s work as a barrister.
One said he was not going to vote for her but now would. The other, formerly a prominent member of party, said he was “absolutely disgusted” by a video on the issue released by Fine Gael and would “absolutely” be voting for Ms Connolly.
The Bar Council has reacted strongly to the criticisms of Ms Connolly.
“Barristers should not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes or suffer adverse consequences as a result of being so identified,” it has said.
