Charlie McCreevy

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Charlie McCreevy  link NNDB Sourcewatch Wikidata (Politician)
Born	Charles Barry McCreevy 1949-09-30 Sallins, Kildare, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Naas C.B.S.,Gormanston College,University College Dublin
Children	1
Spouse	Noeleen Halligan
Party	Fianna Fáil
Irish politician who attended the 2008 Bilderberg meeting as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.

Charles McCreevy is an Irish politician who attended the 2008 Bilderberg meeting as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.

Educating

Born in Sallins, County Kildare, McCreevy was educated locally at Naas by the Congregation of Christian Brothers at Naas C.B.S., and later at Gormanston College. He studied commerce at University College Dublin and went on to become a chartered accountant.

Career

In 1977, McCreevy was elected to the Irish parliament on behalf of Fianna Fáil.

In 1992 he became Minister for Social Affairs in the Cabinet of Albert Reynolds and in 1993 Minister for Minister for Tourism and Trade. Following the fall of this cabinet, Fianna Fáil found itself in opposition and McCreevy became his group's spokesperson on Finance under new group leader Bertie Ahern.

Ahern became prime minister in 1997 general election, and McCreevy was appointed Minister for Finance. His period coincided with the era of the "Celtic Tiger", which saw the rapid growth of the Irish economy due to making the country a tax haven. During his tenure, Ireland joined the European economic and monetary union and the country exchanged the Irish pound for the euro.

In 2004, McCreevy was appointed European Commissioner for the internal market in the Barroso I Commission, succeeding David Byrne as Irish European Commissioner, while taking over the internal market portfolio from Dutchman Frits Bolkestein. During the confirmation, he said that he had campaigned for the ratification of every European Treaty since 1972.

The introduction of the EU Services Directive drawn up by Bolkestein met with a lot of resistance from France, Germany and Italy, among others, large EU countries with relatively high unemployment. In 2006, the directive was adopted in modified form by the European Parliament. When the Barroso II Commission took office in 2010, McCreevy was succeeded as European Commissioner for the Internal Market by Frenchman Michel Barnier.

McCreevy joined the board of Sports Direct International plc on 31 March 2011 and is also a director of Ryanair. He receives annual pension payments of €119,177.