Eoin O’Shea, a barrister and accountant in his 30s, was plucked from obscurity last year to see out the remainder of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn’s term in the European Court of Auditors when she went to the European Commission.
The post is powerful and well paid – it carries an annual remuneration package worth about €276,000 – but it is a low-profile one. Mr O’Shea might well have remained in the background had it not emerged yesterday that he sent e-mails critical of his proposed successor to MEPs who were scrutinising the nomination.
News that he privately lobbied against the selection of Kevin Cardiff to succeed him in the Luxembourg-based court generated a storm of controversy when disclosed at a committee hearing in Leinster House.
Although he had no public profile to speak of before his appointment, Mr O’Shea’s proximity to Fianna Fáil is clear. For many years he kept an eye on dozens of local newspapers for Bertie Ahern, providing clippings for the then taoiseach to keep abreast of grassroots issues throughout the State.
He moved quickly in his career, combining his legal work with the chairmanship of a marketing company, and he was chief executive of the Institute of Directors in Ireland and president of the Institute of Management Consultants in Ireland.
In 2007, the Fianna Fáil-Green administration appointed him under the St Andrews Agreement to review the North-South bodies set up under the Good Friday pact. He was also appointed to the audit committee of the Garda.
It was never any secret Mr O’Shea had wanted to stay on in his auditing role.