Brendan Halligan

Non- Executive Director

Brendan trained as an economist, graduating with a Masters Degree from University College Dublin, Ireland, in 1964. He subsequently worked in the public and private sectors as an economist before entering politics.

In 1967 he became General Secretary of the Irish Labour Party. While in that post, the Prime Minister appointed him a member of the Senate in 1973. He was elected a member of Dáil Éireann (the Irish House of Representatives) in 1976 and later became a member of the European Parliament (1983/84) where he specialised in economic affairs and energy policy. He retired as General Secretary of the labour Party in 1980 to become an economics lecturer and subsequently he set up a public affairs consultancy, which he manages.

In 1985, the government appointed him as Chairman of the Irish Peat Development Authority, a state company responsible for the commercial exploitation of the country’s peat resources. He held office until 1995.

He founded the Institute of European Affairs in 1990, an independent think tank of which he is currently the Chairman. In 2007, Brendan was appointed Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, a state agency which is charged with promoting the production and use of sustainable energy in Ireland and reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. He has acted as a public affairs consultant to Irish and multi-national firms for the past twenty five years.