GORDON HOLMES: GORDON HOLMES, who has died aged 75, was the founder and former managing partner of the Limerick-based firm of solicitors Holmes O'Malley Sexton, one of the biggest legal practices in Ireland.
Solicitor to the attorney general for eight years, he also served for 24 years on the rules committee of the Superior Courts of Ireland.
Chairman of the Garda Síochána Complaints Board, in November 2002 he expressed concern at a “general lack of co-operation” by gardaí with the independent inquiry into the policing of the Reclaim the Streets protest in Dublin the previous May.
He said he could not help feeling that many gardaí had put loyalty to their colleagues ahead of that to the force.
Three years later then minister for justice Michael McDowell announced legislation which would compel gardaí to account for their actions when asked to do so by their superiors. The upshot was the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
Born in Limerick, Gordon Holmes came from a prominent medical family. He was educated at Crescent College, Limerick, and Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare. After graduating from University College Dublin in 1957, he qualified as a solicitor from Blackhall Place the following year.
He started to practise on his own in Cecil Street, Limerick, in 1960, later moving to bigger premises in O’Connell Street. In 1970 Michael O’Malley and Jim Sexton joined him to form Holmes O’Malley Sexton, making it Limerick’s biggest practice.
Appointed the first State solicitor for Limerick city in 1969, he held the post for 11 years.
He acted as legal adviser to Alcan, the Canadian company behind the $1 billion Aughinish Alumina refinery on the Shannon estuary. The refinery was built between 1978 and 1983 and it was the largest construction project in Europe, employing up to 6,500 workers.
“The employment it gave and the money it put into the region is said to have put a washing machine in every house in west Limerick,” he said.
In addition to managing a legal practice, he was a director of the Irish companies run by Paris-based reinsurer SCOR.
Ever proud of his native city, he regarded the granting of university status to the National Institute for Higher Education at Plassey as a major boost. “Limerick became a more cosmopolitan town, better for business and produced a flood of graduates.”
However, he acknowledged that “almost institutional” lawlessness had damaged the city’s image, but added that its residents fully appreciated how good Limerick was to live in.
He chaired the Commission on Intoxicating Liquor Licensing, Betting Appeals Board and Independent Complaints Panel for the drinks industry.
He also chaired the Parole Board, which replaced the Sentence Review Board. In 2006, referring to the rise in gangland murders, he said the “drugs scenario” automatically led to execution-type killings.
He said that those found guilty of such murders should expect “long and salutary” sentences. “The position of human life in society must be restored.”
He added that more resources were needed to support services for the reintegration of prisoners into the community.
He was a director of the University of Limerick foundation, the JP McManus charitable foundation and the Hunt Museum. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by the University of Limerick in 2005.
He had a wide range of interests. At 26 he was the youngest captain of the Irish bridge team and played at international level from 1962 to 1966. His opponents included the actor Omar Sharif.
A racehorse owner, his horses were trained in Croom by Andrew McNamara. He was a former deputy chief steward of the Turf Club.
He chaired the expert group established in 2008 by Horse Sport Ireland to advise on the eradication of prohibited substances and practices from the Irish equestrian sector.
A keen rugby supporter, he was a member of Old Crescent and he was also a member of Limerick golf club. He enjoyed reading crime fiction and biographies.
Mayor of Limerick Maria Byrne described him as a “true gentleman and an outstanding Limerick citizen”.
His son Gordon said: “He was many things, but at core he was a Limerick man and a solicitor, a father and a husband. Limerick meant so much to him.”
He is survived by his wife Hilary, sons Keith and Gordon and daughters Valerie and Melanie.
Gordon A Holmes: born October 5th, 1935; died January 20th, 2011.