Paul McGuinness

Early life

McGuinness was born in a British military hospital at Rinteln, Westphalia in Germany, his father, Philip McGuinness (a Liverpudlian) was serving there at that time with the Royal Air Force. His mother Sheila McGuinness née Lyne, was a schoolteacher from Lauragh, County Kerry, Ireland. There were three children in the family: Paul, Niall and Katy.

McGuinness received his early formal education in Ireland at the private Jesuit boarding school Clongowes Wood College. From there he went on to Trinity College, Dublin University, where he directed plays and edited the magazine T.C.D. Miscellany, but dropped out.

Early years

Before becoming involved with U2, he worked as a film technician on productions such as John Boorman's Zardoz. For a time, he also managed folk-rock group Spud.

He was nicknamed by The Prunes as "The Goose", according to Bono in the book U2 by U2. Bono said: "The Prunes came up with a name for Paul. He was The Goose."

U2

McGuinness first met U2 at a Dublin gig on 25 May 1978 where they were supporting the Gamblers and became their manager, having been introduced to the band by Bill Graham a journalist with Hot Press magazine.

He founded Principle Management Limited on 29 Mar 1984, the name being chosen because he wanted to be more principled than other managers.

In 1985, McGuinness commissioned Eamon Dunphy to write the story of U2's early years. The book Unforgettable Fire – The Story of U2 was published in 1987.

McGuinness and Bill Whelan set up a music publishing company called McGuinness/Whelan Publishing in the late 1980s.

In 2002 McGuinness was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Music Awards at Point Theatre Dublin and U2 won the best Irish Band Award.

As a result of the cap on artists' tax exemption in Ireland, in June 2006 McGuinness advised U2 to move its song publishing assets to Promogroup in The Netherlands, to minimise their tax burden.

Noted for his business acumen, he has been responsible for U2 3D concert films, U2-branded iPods, sponsorship from BlackBerry and the first ever concert streamed live on YouTube.

He is regarded as the fifth member of U2, although in an interview with the Irish Press in 1985, when asked if he was the fifth member of U2, he replied "the fifth member of U2 is in Adam (Clayton)'s trousers". He is also regarded as one of the most successful managers in the music business.

McGuinness stepped down as manager of U2 after 34 years on 13 November 2013, with Madonna's manager Guy Oseary succeeding him in 2014.

Other activities

He was a founding partner of TV3 (Ireland) and is a director of Ardmore Studios. He is a member of the Phantom FM consortium that in November 2004 secured a broadcasting licence for alternative rock music radio station in the Dublin area and co-founder of the Celtic Heartbeat label, part of Universal Records.

He became a member of the Arts Council of Ireland on 1 January 1988, having been nominated by Charles Haughey and served until February 2000 when he resigned.

He is an advocate on behalf of artists, record labels and music publishers. On 28 January 2008, in a speech at the Midem music industry convention in Cannes, McGuinness called on governments to compel ISPs to introduce mandatory "three strike" service disconnections to end unauthorised downloading, and specifically accused companies such as Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Oracle, and Facebook of building "multi billion dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it".

McGuinness, alongside Eamon Dunphy and others, was involved in a consortium proposing and backing the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Dublin in the 1990s. The move to Dublin did not happen, with Wimbledon F.C. eventually moving to Milton Keynes.

Personal life

McGuinness married Kathy Gilfillan in 1977. They met whilst he was studying at Trinity. Kathy Gilfillan is director of The Lilliput Press Limited