By Business & Finance 
Pictured L-R: ByrneWallace Head of Life Sciences Colin Sainsbury, with new partner Catherine Dowling, Head of Corporate Neil Keenan and Managing Partner Feargal Brennan.
This week sees new appointments announced at the International Federation of Accountants and ByrneWallace.
Joan Curry, Board Member
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Council
Joan Curry, a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland, has been elected to the Council of IFAC (International Federation of Accountants). Her appointment means it is the first time the IFAC Council has approved a female-majority board in its 42-year history. IFAC is the global organisation for the accountancy profession comprised of more than 175 member and associate bodies across more than 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing almost 3 million accountants.
Ms Curry’s role will include providing guidance on, and monitoring, the development and implementation of international accountancy standards by member organisations, with a focus on preparing the accountancy profession for the future.
Ms Curry is the first Irish public servant to be elected to the board. Her current role is Finance Officer at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, a position she has held for the past six months. Previously she served with the Public Service Pay Commission at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and has held a variety of roles within the same Department. She also worked at the Department of Finance for nine years, and as a Financial Accountant with Georgia-Pacific LLC for more than 14 years.
Catherine Dowling, Life Science Partner
ByrneWallace
ByrneWallace has announced the appointment of Catherine Dowling as a partner in its Life Sciences and Corporate team.
Having initially trained as a solicitor in ByrneWallace, Catherine has developed her career within the firm, advising Irish and international clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial transactions, including private equity/venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and intellectual property.
Specialising in Life Sciences, Catherine has worked with a broad range of entities in the sector from early stage university spin-out companies to publicly quoted indigenous and global pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device, and diagnostic organisations.
Pictured L-R: Head of Corporate Neil Keenan, Managing Partner Feargal Brennan, new partner Catherine Dowling, and Head of Life Sciences Colin Sainsbury.
Commenting on the appointment, Managing Partner Feargal Brennan said, “We are delighted to welcome Catherine to the partnership. We recognise that our professionals play a vital role in ensuring we deliver an excellent service to our clients, and Catherine is now a highly experienced and respected practitioner in the sector. We take pride in our learning and development programme, and adopt a proactive and dedicated approach to ensuring we provide our staff with the opportunity to evolve their careers, empowering them to achieve their best, and offering the support, guidance and training to do so. As such, it is rewarding to see Catherine progress her career within ByrneWallace from trainee solicitor to partner.”
Colin Sainsbury, Head of the ByrneWallace Life Sciences team, comments, “As one of the only Irish law firms to have a dedicated Life Sciences team, Catherine’s well deserved promotion affirms our commitment to providing the best legal advice to our clients. Through our significant sectoral specific experience and dedicated approach to serving the Life Sciences industry, we guide our clients through all stages of their organisational development, from start-up to a broad range of exits including IPOs.”
