Brian McCracken

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Judge of the Supreme Court

| term_start = 4 May 2002

| term_end = 12 July 2006

| nominator = Government of Ireland

| appointer = Mary McAleese

| office1 = Judge of the High Court

| term_start1 = 13 March 1995

| term_end1 = 3 May 2002

| nominator1 = Government of Ireland

| appointer1 = Mary Robinson

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|8|13|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cork, Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Irish

| spouse =

| children =

| education = The High School, Dublin

| alma_mater = {{Ubl|Trinity College Dublin|King's Inns}}

|}}

Brian Moore McCracken (born 13 July 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2002 to 2006 and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to 2002. He is an officer of Trinity College Dublin – Visitor of the College.

Early life and career

McCracken was born in Cork in 1934. He was educated at The High School, Dublin, and later at Trinity College Dublin and the King's Inns. He became a barrister in 1957 and a senior counsel in 1975.

Judicial career

McCracken was appointed a High Court judge in 1995 and was elevated to Ireland's Supreme Court in 2002. His in-depth expertise in the field of intellectual property law was widely recognised but he also had expertise in both chancery and commercial law.

McCracken Tribunal

Judge McCracken was appointed as the sole member of the McCracken Tribunal which was set up by the Bruton Government in February 1997 to investigate reports of secret payments by Ben Dunne Jnr. to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and former cabinet Minister Michael Lowry and others.

The Tribunal heard evidence in July 1997 and produced a 100-page report the following month. This report found that Haughey had given untrue evidence under oath and that Lowry was knowingly assisted by Dunne in evading tax. As a result of the findings and revelation of substantial funds in secret Ansbacher accounts, owned by Haughey, the new Ahern Government established a more extensive follow-up, the Moriarty Tribunal to investigate the financial affairs of the two politicians.

Charles Haughey faced criminal charges for obstructing the work of the McCracken tribunal.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/187550.stm Former PM in court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116073051/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/187550.stm |date=16 November 2018 }} – BBC News article, 6 October 1998.[http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0709/moriarty.html Haughey to stand trial for obstructing McCracken Tribunal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929070100/http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0709/moriarty.html |date=29 September 2012 }} – RTÉ News article, 9 July 1999. His trial on these charges was postponed indefinitely after the judge in the case found that he would not be able to get a fair trial following prejudicial comments by Tánaiste Mary Harney.[http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/1103/haughey.html High Court upholds ruling on Haughey trial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929070203/http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/1103/haughey.html |date=29 September 2012 }} – RTÉ News report, 3 November 2000.

Compared to the succeeding, and other tribunals, the McCracken Tribunal was praised for its efficiency in concluding within months.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

He retired from the Supreme Court on 12 July 2006.