Three top Anglo trial defence barristers share €1m

The three leading defence counsel in the Anglo trial shared over €1m (including Vat) in State fees for their work in the criminal courts.

New figures also show one of the lead State prosecutors in the Anglo trial, Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC, was the best-paid criminal prosecutor with just under €240,000 in fees.

The figures from the Director of Public Prosecutions show Ms Ní Raifeartaigh got €239,577.

A portion of the fees would have arisen from her work in the Anglo case in 2013 as it was processed through the Circuit Court.

Her colleague, Paul O’Higgins SC, who made the closing speech on behalf of the State, got the seventh highest amount, €128,133 in fees.

Payments to prosecutors increased by 6%, from €12.2m to €13m.

The three leading defence barristers in the Anglo trial, Brendan Grehan SC, Patrick Gageby SC, and Michael O’Higgins SC, shared €1.067m through their work for the DPP and their work on the Criminal Legal Aid scheme.

In the Anglo trial, Mr O’Higgins represented Sean Fitzpatrick, with Mr Grehan representing Pat Whelan and Mr Gageby representing Mr William McAteer.

Mr Grehan got €454,959 for State work, with Mr O’Higgins getting €378,193 and Mr Gageby receiving €233,898.

For Criminal Legal Aid Scheme work, Mr Grehan got €336,703, with former journalist Mr O’Higgins getting €304,839, and Mr Gageby getting €132,129.

Figures from the DPP show Mr Grehan received €118,256, Mr Gageby, €101,706 and Mr O’Higgins €73,354 , for prosecuting cases on behalf of the State prosecutor.

Senior counsel get a brief fee of €7,127 and €1,562 for each subsequent day.

In the Circuit Court, they get a brief fee of €1,716, with a subsequent daily fee of €858.

The largest proportion of barristers practice as junior counsel and get a brief fee of €4,752, along with a refresher or daily fee of €1,041, while junior counsel get €1,144 in the Circuit Court, along with a daily fee of €572.

The DPP figures show that junior counsel received €9.55m in fees, with senior counsel getting €3.45m.

Other barristers to feature prominently include Thomas Rice BL, who got €239,048, with David Humphries BL receiving €229,106.

The barrister who successfully prosecuted District Court judge Heather Perrin for deception, Dominic McGinn SC, received €235,584.

Political pundit and newspaper columnist Noel Whelan BL last year got €189,977 from the DPP. Former RTÉ presenter Theresa Lowe BL got €33,554.