Speakers

Sandra Clarke is President of the Irish Tax Institute and a Partner in BCC Accountants in Meath. She trained in that practice and later went on to purchase a 50% share in the business which now has a staff of 18. She developed a strong interest in tax while training and after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, she decided to pursue the Irish Tax Institute exams. She qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser in 1997. Sandra has been an active member of the Institute for almost 20 years. She first got involved through her local branch, attending meetings with Revenue about issues practitioners were dealing with on a daily basis. In 2006, she joined the Institute’s Tax Administration Committee and she was elected to Council in September 2009. Before taking up her role as 45^th President of the Institute on 10 September 2020, Sandra served as Chair of the Business Division of our Revenue Branch network. She has played a leading role in TALC, our main forum for interacting with Revenue and has been a key figure in building a healthy collaboration between the Institute and Revenue.

Shane Coleman is an experienced and authoritative current affairs broadcaster and writer. He has extensive experience of moderating and chairing debates with an inclusive and informed, yet at the same time informal, style. He has particular experience as an interviewer, presenter and moderator. He co-presents the weekday radio programme, Newstalk Breakfast.

Mark Barrett is a Tax Partner with Ronan Daly Jermyn and an FITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). He has worked in tax roles in both industry and practice and has advised Irish and multinational clients on a wide range of tax matters. Mark is also a past President of the Irish Tax Institute and a member and past chairman of Main TALC. Mark is co-author of the Institute publication, Revenue Audits and Investigations – The Professional’s Handbook.

Cian Liddy is a Director with KPMG. He has worked with KPMG for over 10 years advising a range of high net worth individuals, private Irish business, and multi-national clients across a variety of sectors on their Irish and international tax affairs. Cian provides advice on corporate income taxes, personal taxes, succession planning, employment taxes, and social security. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and an Associate Member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Muireann Lynch is a Senior Research Officer in the Economic Analysis division of the Economic and Social Research Institute. She joined the Institute in 2014. Muireann holds a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in UCD. She has published numerous research articles in diverse areas of energy economics and has co-authored submissions to various public consultations and Government Departments. Muireann is also a Funded Investigator with the Energy Systems Integration Partnership Programme and coordinates emerging research focused on the modelling and integration of electricity, gas, heat and water systems. Muireann’s research interests include electricity market regulation, power system economics and renewable generation integration and her research methodologies include stochastic mathematical programming, optimisation and game theory.

Fergal O’Brien is Director of Policy and Public Affairs with Ibec, Ireland’s main business representative organisation. He leads and coordinates the organisation’s activity across a range of business policy issues and public affairs activity. He represents Irish business on a number of fora at both national and EU level and is currently the Chair of Business Europe’s Economic Policy Committee; a member of the National Competitiveness Council and a council member of the Foundation for Fiscal Studies. Fergal is a regular commentator on the economy and domestic and international policy issues. Prior to joining Ibec in 2005, Fergal worked for 5 years as an Economic Consultant with Fitzpatrick Associates, where he delivered a large number of consultancy assignments for a range of public and private sector clients. He also worked as an economist with the Irish Dairy Board. Fergal holds his primary and master’s degrees from the University of Limerick.

Emma Arlow is a Senior Manager in the Tax Technical team in Deloitte Ireland. Emma has been working with Deloitte since October 2014 and has worked on a range of client issues such as IP migrations, M&A transactions and large group refinancing transactions. Her primary focus is on tax technical and policy matters and regularly contributes to public consultations on legislative matters, primarily addressing key international tax developments. Emma is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and has a degree in Business and Law from UCD.