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Prominent criminal defence lawyer Martin Giblin dies aged 73
Well-known criminal defence lawyer Martin Giblin has died aged 73.
Mr Giblin was an expert on extradition law. He represented Ian Bailey in his successful 2012 Supreme Court appeal against an order for his extradition to France in connection with an investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996. Bailey, who died last January, always denied involvement in the murder.
Mr Giblin also defended Osgur Breathnach, who received State compensation after his conviction for the 1976 Sallins mail train robbery was overturned in 1980 on appeal on the basis that statements were taken from him under duress.
Mr Breathnach and two others accused of the robbery alleged they signed statements after being beaten by gardaí during interrogations.
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Mr Giblin represented members of the McBrearty family in Co Donegal, whose treatment by gardaí was among matters inquired into by the Morris tribunal, established in 2002 on foot of complaints about activities of some gardaí in the Donegal division in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Mr Giblin acted for Frank McBrearty jnr following the false identification of him and his cousin Mark McConnell as the main suspects concerning the 1996 death of a cattle dealer, Richie Barron. Gardaí wrongly treated Barron's death, following a hit-and-run incident, as a murder inquiry and the tribunal described the subsequent investigation as 'an extraordinary shambles'.
Frank McBrearty jnr received a €1.5 million settlement for wrongful arrest and a State apology following negotiations with the State in which Mr Giblin played a central role.
Mr Giblin was called to the Bar in 1974. He was a native of Dublin and became a senior counsel in 1996, specialising in criminal defence work.
During the 1970s, he represented several women who opposed the renewal of licences for 'men only' bars and pubs refusing to serve women.
He was a senior member of the legal team representing the Irish Haemophilia Society at the Lindsay tribunal, established in 1999 to investigate the infection of haemophiliacs with hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated blood products supplied by the Blood Transfusion Service Board.
Mr Giblin was among several lawyers who came together in 2004 to protest against the visit of then US president George Bush to Ireland. The protest was over the United States's involvement in the Iraq War.
Mr Giblin, who had suffered illness in recent years, died in Dublin on Friday, surrounded by his family.
He is survived by his wife Maura, sons Cian, Fergus, Cillian and Ruaidhrí, four grandchildren, his sisters Anne and Bridget and extended family.
