Connor Patrick Maguire:IN A life larger than most, Conor Patrick Maguire, who has died at the age of 86, was successively a distinguished barrister, a Circuit Court judge, a high-ranking EU official, the EU's representative in Ireland and lastly, in his 70s, an RTÉ DJ with a highly popular big band music show which ran for 11 years on RTÉ Radio 1.
Maguire was born in Dublin in 1922 into a family steeped in law and politics.
His mother was Nora Whelan, from Drinagh, Co Wexford. His barrister father, Conor Alexander Maguire, was instrumental in setting up the Sinn Féin courts system during the War of Independence, later became a founder member of Fianna Fáil and, from 1946 to 1961, chief justice.
He was also one of the first judges of the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg.
After schooling at Belvedere College, the younger Maguire studied law at UCD and the King’s Inns. He became very active in Fianna Fáil, serving on the national executive. Called to the Bar in 1944, he practised on the Western Circuit and took silk in 1959, when he was called to the inner Bar by his father in his role as chief justice.
Conor jnr became a judge himself in 1964, when he was appointed to the midland circuit of the Circuit Court. After Ireland joined the then European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1st, 1973, Maguire was appointed a counsellor in the Office of the Director of Competition at the EEC’s headquarters in Brussels.
Thus, long before Peter Sutherland’s “level playing field”, Maguire was instrumental in laying the foundations for fair commercial policy in what became the European Union.
An aspect of his work which he considered important in this role, as he said in an interview with the Western Peoplenewspaper, was the introduction, with colleagues from the UK, of the principles of common law. He became in time an enthusiastic Europhile.
At his requiem Mass, his granddaughter, Mary-Jane Fox, read a special bidding prayer which expressed the hope that “grandad’s vision for Europe be realised and that the peoples of Europe would come together in a spirit of mutual understanding”.
It was a commitment of long standing, probably bolstered by the fact that as a young man he had attended the Nuremberg War Crimes trials with his father.
He returned to Ireland in 1982 to become director of the EU’s office in Dublin and held the position for four years. One of his former colleagues, Mary O’Connor, recalls he was very popular with his staff.
The arts played a huge part in Maguire’s life. After his retirement, being well-known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of modern big band and jazz music, he was asked to fill in as a presenter for 10 weekly musical programmes on RTÉ Radio 1 in 1988.
Those 10 weeks became 11 years, with the show, In the Mood, building a loyal and widespread audience.
His producer, Tom McGrane, said this week that when they had a special request programme every six weeks, letters would arrive from all over Ireland and Britain. “Conor prepared his scripts with a legalistic thoroughness,” McGrane said. “He would go to the ends of the earth to find a snippet of information about an artiste to introduce a special request.”
He was well known in this role and compered shows at the National Concert Hall with artistes including Seán Hession and the Sid Lawrence Orchestra. Using his own extensive record collection, Maguire presented for several years a week-long special show at Kelly’s Hotel, Rosslare, Co Wexford, during the summer holiday season.
He also played a significant role, as chairman of the Films Appeals Board from 1965 until 1973, in the liberalisation of film censorship in the Republic. Film historian Prof Kevin Rockett told The Irish Times this week that Maguire effectively introduced film classification to Ireland, allowing for films with adult themes such as adultery or homosexuality to be shown for the first time.
Between 1965 and 1972, recalls Rockett, “there was a serious disjunction between a very strict censor, Christopher Macken, appointed by Charles Haughey when he was minister for justice in 1964, and the appeals board”, which only ended with Macken’s death and the appointment of Dermot Breen as film censor in 1972.
In his private life, Conor Maguire was motivated by a strong Catholic Christian faith, and involved himself quite heavily in charitable commitments.
He and his wife, Katriona (nee Delahunt), whom he had married in 1948, worked as brancardiersat Lourdes. He was also a trustee of the Cheshire Foundation in Ireland, and a board member of its home at Shillelagh, Co Wicklow.
He served three years as president of the Irish section of World University Services, and from 1992 until 2007 was president of the Irish section of the European Cultural Foundation.
He also served a term as president of Wicklow Rotary Club and was a trustee of the republican plot at Glasnevin Cemetery.
A keen golfer, he played in a fourball which included the late president Patrick Hillery, a close friend. He was also a keen gardenerand won prizes at Arklow Horticultural Society for grapes he grew on his small farm at Three Mile Water in Brittas Bay.
He is survived by Katriona, their daughter Cliona (Fox), and sons Conor and Kieran.
- Conor Patrick Maguire: born March 16th, 1922; died December 31st, 2008.