Our inaugural GC Powerlist: Ireland launch brought together Dublin’s legal elite to celebrate the achievements of 100 of the country’s finest in-house counsel.
The latest addition to our GC Powerlist series was launched on 7 October, highlighting the most influential in-house counsel in Ireland. The inaugural GC Powerlist: Ireland was released at a reception for those included in the publication, hosted at sponsor McCann FitzGerald’s Dublin office.
The GC Powerlist recognises in-house lawyers who have made a notable impact on their company or industry through innovation, creativity, excellence in technical advice or advancing a working model that other corporate counsel should try to emulate. In total, 100 Irish general counsel (GCs) made it onto the first list of its kind, covering the most important sectors in Ireland.
The nomination and background research process initially covered around 300 individuals, with the research team whittling those down to the most influential GCs in the market. Nominations came from law firms and in-house peers, demonstrating the reach and impact of the work of those selected for inclusion on the list.
The following pages list those Irish GCs who stand out for their exceptional performance, an achievement that cannot be underestimated considering the quality and size of companies that have legal teams in the country. The key drivers of economic activity in Ireland are represented in the list and from the guests on the night: from tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Microsoft, to financial institutions like BNP Paribas, MetLife, AIG and Citibank, to professional service providers like PwC, Accenture and EY, the full spectrum of Irish business is covered.
At the reception Barry Devereux, managing partner of McCann FitzGerald, congratulated those that made it into the Powerlist and welcomed their guests. In covering disruptive innovation and the rise of technology – as both a solution and a challenge – Devereux set the tone for the evening. Conversation revolved around common difficulties for in-house counsel across all industries, from resourcing to cyber security.
‘This recognition highlights the hard work, strength and innovation displayed by corporate counsel across Ireland, and also emphasises the increasingly important and expanding role of corporate counsel in today’s business environment,’ he said.
The tight-knit community of GCs in Ireland has been brought even closer together by inclusion in the GC Powerlist, allowing them to create their own discussion forums to debate topics of interest in the future. In 2016 we will return to Ireland to investigate the performance of in-house legal teams as a whole, researching the impact that the wider departments have on their businesses. LB
Ireland GC Powerlist A-Z (by surname)
Margaret Ahearn Senior legal counsel, Hewlett-Packard International Bank
Caroline Bergin General counsel, Greenstar Recycling
David Boyle General counsel, Irish Life
Michael Byrne Director/deputy head legal department, Depfa Bank
Colm Callaly Head of legal – Europe and LatAm, Pioneer Investments
Sarah Clarkin Senior vice-president, legal, Aircastle
Brian Connolly Director of legal services – local country compliance, Accenture
Marlene Connolly Group counsel and legal director, Websense International Technology
Nikki Conran General counsel – northern, central and eastern Europe, Schneider Electric
Caoive Collins General counsel, PM Group
Becky Crawley Regional counsel – Ireland, demand, Diageo
Cian Crosbie General counsel, Valentia Technologies
Yvonne Cunnane Head of data protection and privacy, Facebook
Diarmaid Cunningham General counsel, EVP and company secretary, ICON
Anna-Marie Curry Head of legal, Bord na Móna
Paul Dalton Head of legal and compliance, New Ireland Assurance Company
Alan Daly Group head of legal, Electricity Supply Board
Eleanor Daly General counsel, FEXCO
Marie Daly Head of legal and regulatory affairs, IBEC
Elizabeth Davis General counsel, PwC
Caroline Dee Brown General counsel, Commission for Communications Regulation
Anne-Marie Dempsey Senior legal counsel, Horizon Pharma
Gavin Denn General counsel, Invention Investment Ireland
David Dobbyn EMEA regional counsel, Xilinx
Laura Doherty Head of legal and compliance (Dublin), Barclays Insurance
Helen Dooley Group general counsel, AIB Corporate Banking
Orla Dunlea International legal counsel and company secretary, Endo Pharmaceuticals
Clare Egan General legal counsel – Ireland, Cemex
John Elliott General counsel – Ireland, SEI
Catharine Ennis Chief legal officer, SMBC Aviation Capital
Sylvia Fagan Head of legal, ding*
Denise Farnsworth Head of legal, data privacy and compliance officer – Ireland, Microsoft
Natalia Faura EMEA regional lead – legal, LinkedIn
Michelle Feely Head of business and legal affairs, Telegael
Jenny Fisher Head of legal services, Irish Water
Peter Gallagher Head of legal, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation
Sarah Gallagher Legal director – Ireland, Tesco
Noel Gaughran Head of legal – litigation, legal risk and legal policy, Ulster Bank
Michelle Geraghty EMEA legal counsel, Afilias
Orla Gillen Vice president, legal and associate general counsel, AWAS
Sinead Gillen General counsel, Dairygold Co-Operative Society
Tara Glynn Head of legal and company secretary, Rabobank Ireland
Cameron Goodwin General counsel, Lab49
Marie Griffin General counsel – Ireland, AIG
Hugh Hannigan Editorial legal counsel, News Corp UK & Ireland
Jim Harper General counsel Ireland and company secretary, Zurich Ireland
David Hodnett General counsel, Irish Aviation Regulator
Seán Hooper Legal and compliance officer/company secretary, Anchorage Investments
Mark Hughes Head of regulatory, Hutchison 3G Ireland
David Johnston Group company secretary, C & C Group
Orla Joyce Head of legal, Heineken Ireland
Emma Kearney General counsel Ireland and expansion markets/legal director EMEA, Yahoo!
Adrian Kelly General counsel, Airsynergy
Donall King Head of legal affairs, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Antoine Mac Donncha Head of legal unit, Department of Finance
Claire Madden Head of legal services, Gas Networks Ireland
Tom Maher General counsel and company secretary, Mainstay Medical
Brian Marshall Group general counsel, Smurfit Kappa
Catherine May Legal director EMEA and company secretary, Dell Financial Services
Joe May Head of legal, Vhi Healthcare
Colman McCabe Vice president and chief counsel – EMEA, Hewlett-Packard International Bank
Peter McCarthy Head of legal for operations and B2B, Virgin Media Ireland
Conall McLoughlin General counsel, Galetech Energy Developments
Darren McMahon Vice president – head of legal (Ireland), State Street International
David McMunn Head of legal and compliance, UTV Ireland
Sylvia McNeece Head of legal and corporate services, Pensions Authority
Donal Moriarty Executive counsel, Aer Lingus
Deirdre Nagle Senior solicitor, EirGrid
Gemma Neylon General counsel, OpenJaw Technologies
Linda NiChualladh Regulatory and competition counsel, An Post
Tom O’Brien Commercial manager and general counsel, Providence Resources
Syl O’Byrne General counsel, Carne Group
Jean O’Driscoll General counsel, Amentum Capital
Andrew O’Flanaghan Chief legal officer, National Treasury Management Agency
Emmet O’Grady Head of legal – online, Paddy Power
John O’Halloran Vice president and associate general counsel, head of legal for western and central Europe, MetLife
Peter O’Neill Associate general counsel – commercial, Facebook
Aideen O’Reilly Head of legal, National Asset Management Agency
Hugh O’Reilly Head of legal, An Post
Patricia O’Shea Group head of legal and secretariat, Dublin Airport Authority
Richard O’Sullivan Head of legal services, Health Information and Quality Authority
Robert Owens Head of legal Ireland, Danske Bank Corporates & Institutions
Didier Patry Chief IP counsel EMEA, Eaton
Deirdre Pepper General counsel Europe and Ireland/country counsel Ireland, Citibank Europe
Jeffrey Rich Legal director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Twitter
Ed Riley General counsel, Avolon Aerospace
Padraic Roche General counsel and company secretary, Malin
Eadaoin Rock General counsel, Central Bank of Ireland
Joanne Ross Head of legal and regulation, Bord Gáis Energy
Gabrielle Ryan Group legal services head, Bank of Ireland
Davina Saint Head of legal – Ireland, BNP Paribas Ireland
Thomas Schmid Executive vice president, general counsel and MD, Intrepid Aviation
Michael Shanley General counsel, Panda Group
Margaret Smith General counsel, CarTrawler
Rory Sullivan Legal director – Ireland, Pfizer
Edward Traynor Group general counsel and company secretary, Paddy Power
Suzanne Tucker General counsel, EY
Patrick Wilkinson General counsel – Ireland, Northern Trust
Rory Williams Group chief legal officer, Ervia
Feidhlimidh Wrafter Head of legal and compliance, Western Union