The lifetime achievement award is an award presented to members of this Institute whose contribution to the profession, to business life and to Irish society in general has been outstanding. It is recognition by Council not just of the individual recipients but of our role as a public interest body. Tonight we are making the award for the second time. The only previous recipient in 2006 was Charlie McCreevy.
One of our great strengths as an Institute has been our ability to punch well above our weight in the international arena. We have provided and continue to provide high level contributors to bodies like IFAC - the International Federation of Accountants.
But the recipient of the lifetime achievement award this evening is the man who perhaps best manifests our international role.
David Devlin is the only man to ever serve two terms as President of FEE, the European Federation of Accountants, between 2002 and 2006, building that organisation into a respected body representative of the whole European profession. David, an Irish Chartered Accountant, was simply the voice of the European accounting profession. As FEE President, David was renowned as the articulate champion, not just of the profession's interests, but of a sensible and coherent approach to policy making at a European level.
As President of FEE, David acted not just as that organisation's capable President but also as an ambassador for the Irish accounting profession and this Institute in particular. He continues to remain active in international issues on behalf of the profession and serves not just on IFAC's International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants but also on the European Corporate Governance Forum Supervisory Board of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, established to advise the European Commission on the endorsement of International Financial Reporting Standards in the EU and to influence the work of the International Accounting Standards Board.
The decision to award David the Chartered Accountants Ireland Lifetime Achievement Award was undoubtedly one of the easier decisions taken by Council this year. His contribution to the development of the profession has been enormous and continues to this day. His role has been recognised by many and we felt it was time that his own Institute paid tribute to his good work.
As President of Chartered Accountants Ireland I am delighted to present David with this award.