Irish Region

As I enter my first full year as President of the Institute in Ireland my goal will be to continue the work of the ICSA in championing good governance and developing the skills and effectiveness of governance professionals for the future.  I am looking forward to meeting with members and students and promoting the ICSA as we face the challenge of managing the ever increasing workload in the context of increased economic activity, which is compounded in our case by the shortage of skilled and qualified company secretarial staff.

However this is also an opportunity for the Institute in Ireland.  While traditionally boards have sought to have collective and individual expertise around finance, law and human resources, we are now seeing more of a need for expertise in areas such as IT, data security, social media, cyber risk and emerging technologies.  The need for greater diversity – including expertise, gender, ethnicity or age – is still very much on the agenda, and over my term I hope to support the continued growth of the number of ICSA-qualified company secretaries in Ireland to ensure that it is reflective of the expertise and diversity needed for future looking boards.

2018 was a busy year for the region and 2019 promises to be more of the same. While we all must keep abreast of legislative and regulatory developments, the imminent legislation on the Central Register of Beneficial Ownerships in Ireland will be much anticipated by company secretaries.  In addition, the uncertainty provided by Brexit and the corresponding increase in corporate governance activity in Ireland due to business relocation will also have an impact on members this year.

During 2019 we will be maintaining our strategic goals of:

• focusing on our members’ development needs by providing another leading edge annual conference, relevant regular CPD events, a mentoring programme, fit for purpose training and development programmes and a competency based framework for governance professionals at all levels within the industry;

• getting the message to students and graduates that a career in corporate governance affords excellent opportunities for career progression and job satisfaction in a well paid industry.  We will be visiting colleges to promote our qualification and we will also be organising events for students to support them with their ICSA studies.  If you know of any students or colleagues who might be interested in pursuing a career as a Chartered Secretary / Governance Professional, they can contact us on our email address at: president@icsacharteredsecretaries.ie. where our Business Development Manager, John Burns will be pleased to follow up with them; and

• raising our profile in the areas of governance, funds and the charity sector in Ireland.

Booking has already opened for the 2019 Conference which will be held on Thursday 16^th May 2019 in the Printworks, Dublin Castle and early bird booking price reductions are available until the end of February.  I would encourage you to look at the highlights of last year’s excellent event here:

Our first CPD event of the new year will cover the Senior Executive Regime and will be held on Tuesday 22nd January 2019 in Deloitte, Dublin.  Please check the website which has all the details of upcoming events.  I look forward to seeing you there.  The new calendar of our events up to June 2019 has now been circulated to all members.

I would like to acknowledge the excellent work done by our Council and Committee members who give of their time unselfishly to promote the activities of the Institute in Ireland. I also want to acknowledge the success of the role of our Business Development Manager, which is almost entirely attributable to the incumbent, John Burns and the enthusiasm and professionalism that John brings to the role. Thank you John.

Finally, if you or any of your colleagues are interested in promoting the Institute while at the same time promoting your brand, get in touch with John or I for a discussion.

We always welcome feedback on how we are doing so please do not hesitate to contact me at president@icsacharteredsecretaries.ie.

May I wish you and your families a very happy and peaceful 2019.

Salvador Nash, President

ICSA: The Governance Institute in Ireland