FROM ABORTION VOTE AND STARDUST... TO A LIFE IN WORLD POLITICS
PETER Sutherland was born in Dublin in April 1946 and was educated at Gonzaga College in Ranelagh, before going on to study law at UCD and King’s Inns. He built up a successful practice as a barrister, mainly in civil and insurance cases.
He was also on the legal team defending Captain James Kelly in the 1970 Arms Trial and represented the owners of the Stardust nightclub in the inquiry that followed the disastrous fire there in 1981.
Mr Sutherland also tried his hand at politics, running for Fine Gael in 1973 in Dublin North-West’s four-seater. He polled less than 2,000 votes.
He worked as a senior counsel for more than a decade before being appointed attorney general in 1981 by then taoiseach Garret Fitz-Gerald, the first of two stints in the role.
As attorney general, he advised against the wording voted for by the Dáil for the 1983 abortion referendum. He argued that it could lead to abortion becoming permissible in Ireland.
Mr Sutherland held a number of senior positions in the worlds of law, business and government during his career.
He was appointed to the European Commission in 1985 and had responsibility for competition policy and, initially for 1985 only, also for education.
He was responsible for the creation of the Erasmus programme which allows European university students to study in other member states.
In 1992, he was chairman of the committee that produced the Sutherland Report on the completion of the Internal Market of the EEC, commissioned by the European Commission.
He was the youngest ever European commissioner and served in the first Delors Commission.
His role was crucial in opening up competition across Europe – particularly in the airline, telecoms, and energy sectors.
Mr Sutherland was the chairman of Allied Irish Banks from 1989 until 1993 as was non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International until June 2015. Until June 2009 he was non-executive chairman of British Petroleum.
He served on the steering committee of the Bilderberg Group until May 2014.
The Bildeburg Club is an annual private conference of 120 to 150 people of the European and North American political elite, experts from industry, finance, academia and the media, established in 1954 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. He was also a member of the advisory council of Business for New Europe, a British pro-European think-tank.
In 2004, he was knighted and a year later he was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations’ Industrial Development Organization.
In 2006 he was appointed chair of London School of Economics Council. He commenced his role in 2008, and held it until February 2015. In 2006, he was also appointed by UN secretary general Kofi Annan as his special representative for migration.
In this position, he was responsible for promoting the establishment of a Global Forum on Migration and Development.
On December 5, 2006, he was appointed as a financial adviser to the Vatican. He was also chair of The Ireland Fund of Great Britain from 2001 to 2009.
Mr Sutherland suffered a decline in health in recent years, and spoke about his battle with throat cancer in 2010. He is survived by his wife Maruja, their two sons and daughter. He was a keen sportsman and had a passion for rugby and tennis.