EY Ireland announces 10 new Partners following continued growth

23 July 2018 Consultancy.uk

EY has appointed 10 new Partners to help lead the firm across the island of Ireland. The mixture of internal promotions and external appointments is aimed at strengthening EY’s offering across the region, as it prepares for heightened demand from businesses bracing for Brexit.

After 10 years of slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, Ireland’s employment has finally surpassed its levels of a decade ago, buoying growth figures across the island. As a result, the Republic of Ireland specifically can expect GDP growth of 4.9% in 2018 and 3.8% in 2019, according to the latest forecasts from Big Four firm EY. However, those in Northern Ireland are forecast to see 1.1% in 2018 and 1.2% in 2019, likely resulting from the North’s remaining ties to Brexit-stricken Britain, and both countries in the region are underprepared to weather the coming storm – with just 4% of firms across the island having an active Brexit plan in place at present.

With the tapping of business support services in regards to this at a low 15% currently, demand for external expertise on the matter is likely to boom as negotiations approach their culmination in March 2019, and is subsequently set to fuel the strong growth EY has enjoyed across Ireland in recent years. The firm has grown its headcount on the island by more than 36% to 2,500 in the past two years, booking healthy figures across all Service Lines as a result, and expects to report double-digit growth at the end of the 2018 financial year for the fifth consecutive year.

In order to further bolster its offering ahead of a potential increase in business, EY has appointed 10 new Partners. Following the recent news that there will be 520 new jobs created across EY’s seven offices on the island of Ireland, this development brings the total number of Partners within the Big Four firm’s Irish business to 73. It also comes as part of 747 new Partners being announced globally.

From left to right; Niall Barrett, Ronan Clinton, Paul Traynor, Robert Henson, Eamon McCallion, Vickie Wall, Frank O’Keeffe, Eoin MacManus, Catherine Vaughan, Sarah Connellan, Ian Edwards, Cian O’Donovan, Andrew Dolliver

Three new Partners have been appointed within the firm’s Assurance division. Vickie Wall, who has been with EY for four years since leaving competitor PwC, has been promoted within the Statutory Reporting Centre of Excellence (COE) in Dublin. The COE develops innovative, technology-driven solutions to execute global audits for some of the world’s largest multinational corporations. New arrival Niall Barrett joins EY’s Cork office from Gilead Sciences, where he spent seven years in a number of finance leadership roles. As a Partner in Cork, he will provide assurance services to large multinational and indigenous fast-growth clients, with a particular focus on the Munster region. Fellow new hire Ronan Clinton specialises in external audit, IFRS and Irish / UK GAAP, Corporate governance and Risk management. He will be based in Waterford, joining from Clinton Flynn, an independent firm of Chartered Accountants in the Southeast, where he was also a Partner.

EY’s Tax team has meanwhile welcomed four new Partners. Belfast-based Ian Edwards arrived at EY in 2012, and specialises in the provision of tax compliance and tax consultancy services, having most recently been a Tax Director at the firm. Robert Henson has been appointed as a Partner of the Dublin tax team from Mason Hayes & Curran, and will advise on a wide range of clients in the agri-food, energy, funds, leasing, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and technology sectors. Another new arrival, Cian O’Donovan, will join EY from Big Four competitor KPMG, as a former Tax Director, to lead EY’s Real Estate tax team, along with Eamon McCallion, who joins the indirect tax team within the financial services organisation from global biopharmaceutical services provider PAREXEL, where he established and led the business’ indirect tax team.

Additionally, EY beefed up its Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice with one new Partner. Belfast-based Andrew Dolliver has been promoted to the role internally, and will sit within restructuring, and specialising in turnaround, creditor and debtor advisory, independent business reviews and formal insolvency. Elsewhere, Paul Traynor has been appointed as a Partner to the Advisory practice in the financial services organisation, where he will work on the Wealth and Asset Management team. He arrives from BNY Mellon, where he led the firm’s insurance and pension segments efforts across Asia Pac, EMEA and LatAm. Finally, Catherine Vaughan, based in Dublin, has been appointed as a Partner in Global Risk, a role she will fulfil alongside her present position of Global Compliance Leader. Outside of her day-to-day role, Catherine also plays an instrumental role in EY’s Diversity and inclusion agenda in Ireland.

Frank O’Keeffe, Country Managing Partner, EY Ireland said of the news, “The appointment of 10 new Partners to the partnership, alongside our wider jobs announcement last week, demonstrates our commitment to continuously expanding the breadth of our service offering by investing in the best talent... A combination of traditional and innovative skills and capabilities means we can provide market-leading products and services that help our clients continue to tackle some of today’s most complex and pressing issues.”