Executive Committee
The Executive Committee of Arbitration Ireland is charged with managing the affairs of the body. This includes all aspects of operations including developing strategy, ensuring the finances are in order, organising events and increasing membership.
President
David Herlihy SC
David is a partner in A&O Shearman’s International Arbitration Group, where he focuses on international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration and public international law. David is qualified in Ireland, England & Wales and New York. His recent matters include representing Vodafone in its investment treaty win against India; successfully defending Cyprus in investment treaty claims arising out of the Eurozone financial crisis; and obtaining the largest Energy Charter Treaty award against Spain. His victories have won International Arbitration Team of the Year twice, most recently in 2021 (Legal Business Awards).
Vice President
Susan Ahern SC
Susan is a barrister at the Law Library in Dublin and international arbitrator at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, London. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Susan is a member of the ICSID Conciliator Panel, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Sport Resolutions UK and the Bar of Ireland Arbitration and ADR Committee.
Treasurer
Ciarán Ó Conluain, Partner, A&L Goodbody
Ciarán Ó Conluain is a partner in A&L Goodbody’s Disputes & Investigations group. Ciarán advises market leading corporates, Tech companies and financial institutions on complex commercial disputes and investigations. His experience spans large scale commercial and multiparty litigation, international arbitrations under various arbitral institutions and contentious investigations and enquiries. Ciarán has played a leading role in some of the most complex litigation and investigations in which A&L Goodbody has been involved in recent years.
Secretary
Peggy O’Rourke SC
Professional Qualifications: LLB, LLM (Harv), Attorney at Law (NY1996)
Areas of specialism: Administrative/Judicial Review, Arbitration/Dispute Resolution, Commercial/Chancery, Construction, Employment Law, Professional Negligence
PRO
Caoilfhionn Ní Chuanacháin
Caoilfhionn has an established commercial litigation practice with a standout reputation for client service. She has successfully represented Irish and international clients in a wide range of business disputes before the Irish Courts, with a focus on the Commercial Court. Caoilfhionn is an all-rounder but her practice has a particular focus on financial services litigation, professional negligence claims and high profile property related litigation. She also has significant experience in alternative dispute resolution.
Paul McGarry SC
Paul McGarry SC was Chair of the Irish Bar from 2016 to 2018. He is a member of the Ireland for Law Implementation Group. He was appointed a senior counsel in 2010, and is also a member of the Bar of England and Wales. He practices primarily in public, commercial and European law. Paul is an accredited mediator and international arbitrator and has spoken on arbitration at events organised by the IBA, UIA, CCBE, ABA, Arbitration Ireland and ICAB. He is a former Chair of the Sports Law and EU Bar Associations of Ireland, a bencher at Kings Inns and a Master of the Bench at Middle Temple (London).
Nicola Dunleavy SC, Solicitor
Nicola is a Partner in Matheson’s Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. She leads the Matheson arbitration team and her expertise includes advocacy in alternative dispute resolution, encompassing expert determination, adjudication and mediation. Nicola is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Paul Gardiner SC
Paul was called to the Bar in 1987 and to the Inner Bar in October 2000. He has appeared as counsel in many significant commercial litigation cases, and acted as arbitrator both domestically and internationally, while also appearing as counsel in many arbitrations. He is an accredited mediator with the CEDR, and has acted as mediator in a number of significant commercial disputes.
Colm Ó hOisín SC
Colm has been in practice in Dublin at the Irish Bar since 1988 and became a Senior Counsel in 2005. He has a wide-ranging practice concentrated on commercial and public law litigation and on international arbitration. He has been appointed as arbitrator in international disputes under the rules of ICSID, LCIA, ICC, ICDR and DIAC. He is currently member for Ireland on the ICC International Court of Arbitration and is designated by Ireland to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.
Gavin Woods, Solicitor
Gavin is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department of DLA Piper LLP. His practice has a focus on advising clients about intellectual property disputes (trademark and copyright infringement and breach of confidential information).
Rory Kirrane SC, Solicitor
Rory is a Partner at Mason, Hayes & Curran, where he is head of the construction team. He has extensive experience in energy and construction issues and expertise in real estate, renewable energy and gas. Rory advises clients through ADR, arbitration and court.
Michael Collins SC
Michael has extensive experience of international commercial arbitration, with appointments as arbitrator from the ICC, the LCIA and UNCITRAL. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in the US, a member of the panel of arbitrators for the International Arbitration Centre in Kazakhstan and a former chair of the Bar Council of Ireland. Michael is currently Chairman of the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel, a member of the ICC national committee and Adjunct Professor at the Sutherland UCD Law School.
Klaus Reichert SC
Klaus sits as an international arbitrator with extensive experience across a wide range of subject-matters, industries, governing laws and major institutional rules. He has served as chair, party-appointee or sole arbitrator particularly in arbitrations pursuant to ICSID, ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA and ICDR Rules. He is based at Brick Court Chambers in London.
Chartered Accountant
Ian Talbot,
Ian is Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce Ireland and CEO of Chambers Ireland, the largest business network in Ireland. Previously Ian worked with JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Price Waterhouse.
Cathy Smith SC
Barrister at Law and Member of the Inner Bar of Ireland – specialising in EU, Employment and Equality Law, Company Law and Pensions Law.
Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
CEDR Accredited Mediator
Member of the Council of the Bar of Ireland
Chair Person of the AADR Committee of the Bar of Ireland
Member of the Company Law Review Group
Committee Member of the Employment Bar Association
Chairperson and Independent Arbitrator – Tracker Mortgage Appeals Panels
Former Vice Chairperson Irish Women Lawyers Association
Graduate of the University of Limerick and the Kings Inns
Neil Steen SC
Neil is a senior counsel at the Bar of Ireland. He has a commercial practice, encompassing company and insolvency, financial services, professional negligence, construction, energy, insurance, and planning and environmental law. He has acted in many arbitrations, both domestic and international.
Gerard H. James
Gerard H. James is a Partner in the William Fry LLP Litigation and Investigations department. He is a commercial litigator with particular expertise in complex commercial and property related disputes.
A strong advocate for and experienced practitioner in the area of ADR, Gerard is a member of the Executive Committee of Arbitration Ireland and the Co-Chair of its Young Practitioners’ Committee.
Gerard is a founding committee member of the OUTLaw Network which works to promote and drive inclusion of LGBT+ people and allies in the Irish legal sector.
Elaine White
Elaine is a partner in the Ogier Leman Dispute Resolution team and advises across a broad range of international and domestic commercial disputes in areas such as shareholder disputes, contractual disputes and contentious insolvency. Elaine is also qualified in England and Wales having practiced with an international firm in London for 7 years.
Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu,
Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu is a Lecturer in Law and the chair of the L.L.M. in International Business Law at Maynooth University, where she teaches arbitration law, contract law and private international law. Prior to joining Maynooth University, Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu was a Post-Doctoral Global Fellow at the Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law of New York University. She has also been a Teaching & Research Assistant at Sorbonne Law School, Paris, and taught private international law, introduction to civil law, family law, tort law and company law. For her Ph.D. thesis (summa cum laude, Sorbonne), which she prepared under the co-supervision of Professor Mathias Audit (Sorbonne) and Professor Franco Ferrari (NYU), Yağmur worked on various fraudulent acts that can occur in arbitration and the ways to fight against these practices that she qualified as “arbitral fraud”. Yağmur is the author of a book entitled ‘La fraude et l’arbitrage’ and publishes regularly in arbitration law.
Yağmur holds a Chair at the Academic Council of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (R.E.A.L.) based in New York, where she also serves as a mentor. Since 2017, Yağmur Hortoğlu has been acting as a legal counsel before the European Court of Human Rights for Turkish applicants. She is also a media contributor on Turkish television news and radio programs and share opinions on topical legal subjects. Yağmur is fluent in English, French and Turkish and proficient in German.
Executive Director
Rose Fisher
Rose Fisher is the Executive Director of Arbitration Ireland. Well known throughout the Irish legal network, Rose worked for the body representing Irish barristers, The Bar of Ireland, for almost 20 years before taking up her post with Arbitration Ireland. Rose has extensive experience in management, business development and operations roles, and holds an honours degree in business and project management.
President
David Herlihy
David is a partner in A&O Shearman’s International Arbitration Group, where he focuses on international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration and public international law. David is qualified in Ireland, England & Wales and New York. His recent matters include representing Vodafone in its investment treaty win against India; successfully defending Cyprus in investment treaty claims arising out of the Eurozone financial crisis; and obtaining the largest Energy Charter Treaty award against Spain. His victories have won International Arbitration Team of the Year twice, most recently in 2021 (Legal Business Awards).
Vice President
Susan Ahern SC
Susan is a barrister at the Law Library in Dublin and international arbitrator at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, London. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Susan is a member of the ICSID Conciliator Panel, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Sport Resolutions UK and the Bar of Ireland Arbitration and ADR Committee.
Treasurer
Ciarán Ó Conluain,
Ciarán Ó Conluain is a partner in A&L Goodbody’s Disputes & Investigations group. Ciarán advises market leading corporates, Tech companies and financial institutions on complex commercial disputes and investigations. His experience spans large scale commercial and multiparty litigation, international arbitrations under various arbitral institutions and contentious investigations and enquiries. Ciarán has played a leading role in some of the most complex litigation and investigations in which A&L Goodbody has been involved in recent years.
Secretary
Peggy O’Rourke SC
Professional Qualifications: LLB, LLM (Harv), Attorney at Law (NY1996)
Areas of specialism: Administrative/Judicial Review, Arbitration/Dispute Resolution, Commercial/Chancery, Construction, Employment Law, Professional Negligence
PRO
Caoilfhionn Ní Chuanacháin
Caoilfhionn has an established commercial litigation practice with a standout reputation for client service. She has successfully represented Irish and international clients in a wide range of business disputes before the Irish Courts, with a focus on the Commercial Court. Caoilfhionn is an all-rounder but her practice has a particular focus on financial services litigation, professional negligence claims and high profile property related litigation. She also has significant experience in alternative dispute resolution.
Paul McGarry SC
Paul McGarry SC was Chair of the Irish Bar from 2016 to 2018. He is a member of the Ireland for Law Implementation Group. He was appointed a senior counsel in 2010, and is also a member of the Bar of England and Wales. He practices primarily in public, commercial and European law. Paul is an accredited mediator and international arbitrator and has spoken on arbitration at events organised by the IBA, UIA, CCBE, ABA, Arbitration Ireland and ICAB. He is a former Chair of the Sports Law and EU Bar Associations of Ireland, a bencher at Kings Inns and a Master of the Bench at Middle Temple (London).
Nicola Dunleavy, Solicitor
Nicola is a Partner in Matheson’s Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. She leads the Matheson arbitration team and her expertise includes advocacy in alternative dispute resolution, encompassing expert determination, adjudication and mediation. Nicola is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Paul Gardiner SC
Paul was called to the Bar in 1987 and to the Inner Bar in October 2000. He has appeared as counsel in many significant commercial litigation cases, and acted as arbitrator both domestically and internationally, while also appearing as counsel in many arbitrations. He is an accredited mediator with the CEDR, and has acted as mediator in a number of significant commercial disputes.
Colm Ó hOisín SC
Colm has been in practice in Dublin at the Irish Bar since 1988 and became a Senior Counsel in 2005. He has a wide-ranging practice concentrated on commercial and public law litigation and on international arbitration. He has been appointed as arbitrator in international disputes under the rules of ICSID, LCIA, ICC, ICDR and DIAC. He is currently member for Ireland on the ICC International Court of Arbitration and is designated by Ireland to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.
Gavin Woods, Solicitor
Gavin is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department of Arthur Cox Solicitors. His practice has a focus on advising clients about intellectual property disputes (trademark and copyright infringement and breach of confidential information).
Rory Kirrane, Solicitor
Rory is a Partner at Mason, Hayes & Curran, where he is head of the construction team. He has extensive experience in energy and construction issues and expertise in real estate, renewable energy and gas. Rory advises clients through ADR, arbitration and Court.
Michael Collins SC
Michael has extensive experience of international commercial arbitration, with appointments as arbitrator from the ICC, the LCIA and UNCITRAL. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in the US, a member of the panel of arbitrators for the International Arbitration Centre in Kazakhstan and a former chair of the Bar Council of Ireland. Michael is currently Chairman of the Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel, a member of the ICC national committee and Adjunct Professor at the Sutherland UCD Law School.
Klaus Reichert SC
Klaus is a senior counsel at the Law Library, Dublin and Brick Court Chambers, London. He is a member of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, Legal Practice Division Council of the International Bar Association, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Chartered Accountant
Ian Talbot,
Ian is Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce Ireland and CEO of Chambers Ireland, the largest business network in Ireland. Previously Ian worked with JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Price Waterhouse.
Cathy Smith SC
Barrister at Law and Member of the Inner Bar of Ireland – specialising in EU, Employment and Equality Law, Company Law and Pensions Law.
Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
CEDR Accredited Mediator
Member of the Council of the Bar of Ireland
Chair Person of the AADR Committee of the Bar of Ireland
Member of the Company Law Review Group
Committee Member of the Employment Bar Association
Chairperson and Independent Arbitrator – Tracker Mortgage Appeals Panels
Former Vice Chairperson Irish Women Lawyers Association
Graduate of the University of Limerick and the Kings Inns
Neil Steen SC
Neil is a senior counsel at the Bar of Ireland. He has a commercial practice, encompassing company and insolvency, financial services, professional negligence, construction, energy, insurance, and planning and environmental law. He has acted in many arbitrations, both domestic and international.
Gerard H. James
Gerard H. James is a Partner in the William Fry LLP Litigation and Investigations department. He is a commercial litigator with particular expertise in complex commercial and property related disputes.
A strong advocate for and experienced practitioner in the area of ADR, Gerard is a member of the Executive Committee of Arbitration Ireland and the Co-Chair of its Young Practitioners’ Committee.
Gerard is a founding committee member of the OUTLaw Network which works to promote and drive inclusion of LGBT+ people and allies in the Irish legal sector.
Elaine White
Elaine is a partner in the Ogier Leman Dispute Resolution team and advises across a broad range of international and domestic commercial disputes in areas such as shareholder disputes, contractual disputes and contentious insolvency. Elaine is also qualified in England and Wales having practiced with an international firm in London for 7 years.
Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu,
Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu is a Lecturer in Law and the chair of the L.L.M. in International Business Law at Maynooth University, where she teaches arbitration law, contract law and private international law. Prior to joining Maynooth University, Dr. Yağmur Hortoğlu was a Post-Doctoral Global Fellow at the Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law of New York University. She has also been a Teaching & Research Assistant at Sorbonne Law School, Paris, and taught private international law, introduction to civil law, family law, tort law and company law. For her Ph.D. thesis (summa cum laude, Sorbonne), which she prepared under the co-supervision of Professor Mathias Audit (Sorbonne) and Professor Franco Ferrari (NYU), Yağmur worked on various fraudulent acts that can occur in arbitration and the ways to fight against these practices that she qualified as “arbitral fraud”. Yağmur is the author of a book entitled ‘La fraude et l’arbitrage’ and publishes regularly in arbitration law.
Yağmur holds a Chair at the Academic Council of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (R.E.A.L.) based in New York, where she also serves as a mentor. Since 2017, Yağmur Hortoğlu has been acting as a legal counsel before the European Court of Human Rights for Turkish applicants. She is also a media contributor on Turkish television news and radio programs and share opinions on topical legal subjects. Yağmur is fluent in English, French and Turkish and proficient in German.
Executive Director
Rose Fisher
Rose Fisher is the Executive Director of Arbitration Ireland. Well known throughout the Irish legal network, Rose worked for the body representing Irish barristers, The Bar of Ireland, for almost 20 years before taking up her post with Arbitration Ireland. Rose has extensive experience in management, business development and operations roles, and holds an honours degree in business and project management.