Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has said she took on “all types of work” as a barrister, but would not say if she acted in property repossession cases when working for banks.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Wednesday, Ms Connolly said she had taken on work as a barrister on behalf of a variety of clients, including financial institutions.
However, repeatedly asked to confirm whether this included work on home repossessions, she said barristers had an obligation to take on work for clients.
“In the course of my work as a barrister, I took all types of work; that’s the role. You take work where you get it and you do your best,” she said.
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She said she worked as a barrister for “every side”, including people who committed offences, for banking institutions, for people “on the other side of the pitch, people who are going under in terms of orders for possession”.
Ms Connolly said this was the work of a barrister, which should be done professionally.
“There’s a duty as a qualified barrister to take the brief and to do it as professionally as you can or to represent that person or entity as professionally as you can,” she said.
She said she was not “going to itemise” work she had done, but said it included “all sorts of work”.
“The best I can answer your question is you take all sorts of work and you have a duty, actually, to do that as professionally as you can,” she said.
Her past work as a barrister was referred to in an exchange with a rival political figure dating from 2020, detailing claims that she worked on repossession cases for a Celtic Tiger lender.
A video clip posted online shows an exchange between Ms Connolly and a Fine Gael councillor on Galway City Council, Frank Fahy.
During a discussion on housing, Mr Fahy raises homelessness and bank repossessions. “I won’t go into that, Catherine knows issues there in relation to bank repossessions and where banks were putting people out on the street. That was unacceptable, and yet people sort of worked for them,” he said.
In the video, Ms Connolly accuses Mr Fahy of a “cowardly personal attack”.
He responds by saying: “It’s not a cowardly personal attack, it’s a fact. I asked you in the council chamber if you actually worked for Bank of Scotland Ireland, and you said you did.”
Ms Connolly told the Dáil in 2016 she agreed with suggestions for a moratorium on house repossessions made by other TDs.
Politicians have previously faced questions over work done in a legal capacity.
In 2020, Jim O’Callaghan, now Minister for Justice, defended working on behalf of former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.
Speaking at the time, he said the code of conduct for the Irish Bar prohibited discriminating in favour of or against any person availing of their services. It also said that barristers were bound to accept instructions in any case in the field they practice. Mr O’Callaghan’s position was supported by the legal profession.
Ms Connolly said on Wednesday she had worked for and against financial institutions in different cases as well as people who had committed crimes. She also worked on family law cases.
“I’m not at liberty to go into all the details” she said, arguing she had a duty of confidentiality. She again said that doing all sorts of work was the duty of a barrister.
In response to a separate line of questioning, Ms Connolly then said: “Now more than ever we need people to question, and to question repeatedly, and to make questions ... to look on a question as difficult is not my way. Questions should be posed and answered.”
Ms Connolly said on Wednesday she had “no difficulty as a candidate with scrutiny and accountability”.
“I have done my best all my political life to act in an open and accountable manner, and with integrity, and I’m standing here and I’ll allow any questions,” she said.
