Ireland: Will there be greener grass for booming Dublin in the post-Brexit world?

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As a nation well versed in referenda, Ireland is in tune with the times. Since 1937 and the creation of Bunreacht na hÉireann as the fundamental law of Ireland, there have been 35 referenda on everything from a change in the country’s single transferable vote system to the controversial right to life of the unborn.

Ireland has had its own problems with votes on the European Union (EU), throwing Europe into chaos when the country held a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 and it was rejected by 53% of voters. A vote was held again in 2009, and the Irish had a change of heart – the treaty was then backed by 67% of the population. Continue reading “Ireland: Will there be greener grass for booming Dublin in the post-Brexit world?”

Roaring back – Corporate activity has soared in Ireland

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Earlier this year, Ireland’s prime minister (An Taoiseach) Enda Kenny made an appeal to emigrants who had departed the country in the aftermath of the economic crash to return home. Speaking at the launch of an official government policy paper, ‘Global Irish: Ireland’s Diaspora Policy’, the appeal was aimed at encouraging educated Irish people to return, as the government ramps up efforts to entice international investment and capitalise on the fragile Irish economic recovery.

Identifying around 200,000 people, Kenny said: ‘Emigration has a devastating impact on our economy as we lose the input of people, of talent and energy. We need these people at home. And we will welcome them. I believe that, after seven years of emigration, 2016 will be the year when the number of our people coming home will be greater than the numbers who leave.’

Continue reading “Roaring back – Corporate activity has soared in Ireland”

Sending the ‘right message’: Arthur Cox sees donations rejected by Irish Cancer Society due to client

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A leading charity has decided it will no longer accept corporate donations from Big Five Irish law firm Arthur Cox as the firm is currently acting for tobacco giant Japan Tobacco in a dispute against the Irish government.

Continue reading “Sending the ‘right message’: Arthur Cox sees donations rejected by Irish Cancer Society due to client”

Ireland: Tracking Dublin’s Young Tigers

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Ireland is breathing a little easier again. With more than five years of economic turbulence battering both businesses and reputations, the nation has finally managed to hoist itself out of recession. Having officially exited its €67.5bn bailout programme in December 2013 – a move described by finance minister Michael Noonan as Ireland being ‘handed back her purse’ – this summer also saw the Central Statistics Office announce economic growth of 2.7% for the first quarter of 2014.

While the situation is still deemed perilous in many parts, with a mammoth public deficit, a woeful property market and high unemployment, a sense of confidence is returning to Ireland’s legal elite. And such is the battle-hardened resilience of the young lawyers that made partner around the time the economy crumbled – including those at Arthur Cox, McCann FitzGerald, A&L Goodbody, William Fry, Matheson and others – that a crop of up-and-coming individuals are emerging as the next generation of stars to define Ireland’s legal market in the years ahead. Continue reading “Ireland: Tracking Dublin’s Young Tigers”

Caught in controversy: A&L Goodbody jettisons Irish lottery clients after conflict arises

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A&L Goodbody has received unwelcome national press and the ire of a former client after declaring a conflict of interest in its dealings with the high profile Irish lottery licence competition.

The Irish Times reported at the beginning of October that the leading Dublin-headquartered firm had been advising the bidding consortium led by UK operator Camelot and An Post, at the same time as advising charity group Rehab on a possible legal challenge to the national lottery, which may have serious consequences for the operator. Continue reading “Caught in controversy: A&L Goodbody jettisons Irish lottery clients after conflict arises”

Outrageous fortune – how Ireland’s legal elite has stood up to five punishing years of austerity

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Bought by the Central Bank in 2012 from lender and toxic loans body the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) for an estimated €7m (having been valued at €250m in the boom years), plans to use the tower as the now defunct Anglo Irish’s headquarters were abandoned after the company’s collapse. The grey shell of a building standing idle on North Wall Quay is a fitting reminder of the five-year-long turmoil that has battered the Irish economy both in domestic business and international reputation.

It also symbolises what happened to countless properties nationwide, and resonates with the fear felt by many Irish people that the pre-bust Celtic Tiger years will never surface again. Continue reading “Outrageous fortune – how Ireland’s legal elite has stood up to five punishing years of austerity”

International rescue – the advisers winning the key work for multi-national clients in Ireland

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Rescuing Ireland’s banks was a portentous decision in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. It has resulted in crippling consequences for the country, with the Irish government having to receive an €85bn bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund in November 2010. However, what the move hasn’t changed is the league of established Irish law firms which have diversified core practices and picked up some hefty post-crisis work at home and abroad.

Pockets of the Irish economy are clearly surviving, as evidenced by the restructuring of distressed assets that has generated unprecedented work for the ‘Big Five’ and those catching up behind. Upon visiting Dublin, the overwhelming consensus among the firms that spoke to Legal Business – including the top and mid-tier players – was that firms specialising in corporate restructuring, insolvency and professional indemnity have held strong in this fiercely competitive market. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also been a pillar for economic and law firm survival, as attractive tax rates and a lowered cost base maintains global interest from major corporates.

Continue reading “International rescue – the advisers winning the key work for multi-national clients in Ireland”