Call: 2012
Paul McGarry SC was Chair of the Bar of Ireland from August 2016 to August 2018. He is a private client barrister and experienced international arbitrator.
He was called to the Bar in 1996 and appointed a Senior Counsel in 2010. He is a member of the Bar of England and Wales since 2012. He is also a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland. He is an accredited mediator and international arbitrator, and a Bencher of the Honorable Society of Kings Inns. He speaks fluent French and has a working knowledge of Spanish. In 2018 he was elected a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple.
He has an extensive practice in European and Private International Law. As an advocate, he appeared many times before the Luxembourg Courts in cases relating to Environmental, Competition, Trade and Fisheries issues. He was chairman of the EU Bar Association (2017-2020), head of the Irish delegation to the Council of European Bars (CCBE) from 2014-2019, and a is member of the Executive Committee of the European Circuit since 2018. He has written extensively and contributed to conferences, seminars (and webinars) on EU law topics.
He is currently Vice-President of Arbitration Ireland, was a director of the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre (2016 - 2021) and a former Chairman of the Arbitration Committee of the Bar of Ireland.
As an arbitrator he has dealt with many disputes involving international insurance claims, maritime law, professional negligence, reinsurance and financial services. He is an ICC appointed arbitrator in disputes relating to energy and engineering works, is a member of the LCIA, and has advised or represented clients in arbitral disputes under ICC, LCIA, CAS and adhoc rules. He has spoken at many arbitration events organised by the IBA, UIA, CCBE, ABA, Arbitration Ireland and ICAB.
His litigation practice is primarily in European, commercial, insurance and international law. As a silk, he was counsel for the plaintiff in KBC v Byrne Wallace and for the defendants in the BUPA v HIA litigation concerning health insurance. He was lead counsel for the appellant in the Koger copyright appeal and for the State in cases involving liability in tort (Cromane Seafoods) and international law (Barlow II). He has also appeared in many professional negligence claims involving solicitors, accountants and doctors. He is on the panel of assessors for the Medical Council.
He has appeared frequently before the European Courts in cases involving tax (Cadbury Schweppes), customs (Donnellan v Revenue and Greece), state aids (Aughinish Alumina), competition in the insurance sector (Bupa v Ireland), anti-dumping (Medici Grimm KG) and state liability in EU law (Fallimiento). He is currently lead counsel in a large number of claims involving a cartel in the haulage industry.
Notable Cases
Selected reported cases include:
Medici Grimm KG v Council of the European Union [2000] ECR II – 02671 (CFI)
Dublin City Council v Fennell [2005] 1 IR 604 (Supreme Court)
Chen v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] QB 325; [2004] ECR I – 9925 (ECJ)
Ireland v Commission [2005] ECR I – 8027 (ECJ)
Templeman and Van Schaijk v Direkteur van de Rijksdienst [2005] ECR I – 01895 (ECJ)
Fallimento ‘Traghetti del Mediterraneo’ sp v Repubblica Italiana [2006] ECR I – 5177 (ECJ)
Cadbury Schweppes plc v Comm’s of Inland Revenue [2007] CH 30; [2006] 3 WLR 890 (ECJ)
Robins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2007] ICR 779; [2007] ECR I – 01053 (ECJ)
United Kingdom v Council [2007] ECR I – 11459 (ECJ)
Bupa v Commission [2008] ECR II – 00081 (CFI)
Societe Thermale d’Eugenie-les-Bains v Ministre de l’Economie [2007] ECR I – 6415 (ECJ)
Centrum Voor Gelijkheid v Firma Feryn [2007] ECR I – 05187; [2008] ICRC 1390 (ECJ)
Ireland v Commission [2007] ECR II – 00172 (CFI)
Bupa Ireland Ltd v Health Insurance Authority [2009] 1 ILRM 81 (High Court /Supreme Court)
Dynamic Medien v Avides Media [2008] ECR I – 00505 (ECJ)
Campbell v O’Donnell [2009] 1 IR 133 (Supreme Court)
Talbot v An Bord Pleanala [2009] 1 IR 375 (Supreme Court)
Deerland Construction Ltd v Aquaculture Licenses Appeals Board [2009] 1 IR 673 (High Court)
Commission v Ireland and others (C-89/08) [2009] ECR 00000 (CFI)
Irish Pharmaceutical Union v Minister for Health [2010] IESC 28 (High / Supreme Court)
Dominica Peterson (Case C-341/08) [2010] ECR 1 – 00048 (ECJ)
Revenue Commissioners v Glenkerrin Homes [2010] 1 IR 1 (High Court)
Bailey v Browne [2011] IEHC 1 (High Court)
Gabriel v Financial Services Ombudsman [2011] IEHC 318 (High Court)
Bates v Minister for Agriculture [2012] 1 IR 247 (High Court)
Donegan v Dublin City Council [2012] 3 IR 600 (High Court)
KBC Bank Ireland plc v BCM Hanby Wallace [2012] IEHC 120
Koger Inc et al v O’Donnell et al. [2013] IESC 28 (Supreme Court)
Ireland v Commission (Case C-272/12; jt. 13 December 2013) (ECJ)
Bupa Ireland Limited v HIA (No 2) [2013] IEHC 103 (High Court)
DPP v Gilvarry [2014] 1 IR 735 (High Court)
DF v Commissioner of An Garda Siochana [2015] 2 IR 487 (High Court)
Smyth v O’Shea Fishing Limited [2015] IEHC 360 (High Court)
Kilty v Dunne [2015] IESC 88 (Supreme Court)
Mullallv v Labour Court [2016] IECA 291 (Court of Appeal)
Barlow V Minister for Agriculture [2016] IESC 63 (Supreme Court)
Cromane Seafoods v Minister for Agriculture [2017] 1 IR 119 (Supreme Court)
Sheehan v Corr [2017] IESC 44 (Supreme Court)
Donnellan v Revenue Commissioners [2018] ECR I – 26/04/18
Appointments
Chair of the Bar of Ireland, 2016-2018
Vice-President of Arbitration Ireland, 2021-2023
Co-chair, IBA Forum for Barristers and Advocates, 2017-2020
Board member, Arbitration Ireland, 2019-
Bencher of Kings Inns since 2016
Master of the Bench at Middle Temple since 2018
Head of the Irish delegation to the CCBE, 2014-2020
Member of the Board of the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre, 2016-
Member of the ICC National Committee for Ireland, 2015-2016
Co-chair, Irish Branch of the New York State Bar Association, 2017-2020
Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the Bar of Ireland, 2015-2016
Member of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, 2016-2018
Member of the Board of the Courts’ Service of Ireland, 2016-2018
Chair of the EU Bar Association of Ireland, 2016-
Chair of the Sports Law Bar Association of Ireland, 2017-2020
Vice Chair of the Bar of Ireland, 2015-2016
Member of the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple) since 2012
Member of the Bar of Northern Ireland since 2019
Latest news
9th February 2021
International arbitration and climate change webinar
In this masterclass webinar, specialists from Six Pump Court discussed the key trends and issues in climate change litigation and the likely impact of those developments on international arbitration.
9th November 2020
International arbitration awards: challenges and enforcement
Six Pump Court Chambers are delighted to host a series of webinars on international arbitration.
28th July 2020
International Arbitration and Virtual Hearings – A New Era Dawns
The webinar entitled International Arbitration and Virtual Hearings – A New Era Dawns and will take place on Friday 4th September.
18th November 2019
Dublin International Arbitration Day Conference 2019
Six Pump Court members Paul McGarry SC, Gordon Wignall and Natasha Hausdorff attended the International Arbitration Day Conference in Dublin last week.
13th November 2019
Chambers welcomes arbitrators Paul McGarry SC and James Clanchy as Associate Members of Six Pump Court’s Arbitration Group
Chambers is delighted to welcome esteemed arbitrators Paul McGarry SC and James Clanchy as Associate Members of the Six Pump Court Arbitration Group.
Events
5th December 2022
The Impact of Economic Sanctions on International Arbitration
This webinar will consider the increasing impact of sanctions regimes, created and applying around the world, to major economic players in an ever increasing geographical and political spectrum, upon the processes of international dispute resolution.
14th September 2021
International Arbitration Webinar – Arbitrating under the ICC Rules
Members of Six Pump Court listed on the ICC UK Arbitrator Database will be joined by guest speaker Iain Quirk QC.
4th September 2020
Webinar: International Arbitration and Virtual Hearings Webinar
On Friday 4th September at 11am Six Pump Court will host a webinar entitled - International Arbitration and Virtual Hearings – A New Era Dawns
