As she leaves office as Chairman of the Leinster Society, we were delighted to catch up with Áine Crotty to ask for some reflections on her year. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background? My name is Áine Crotty, I am an Associate Director in KPMG's Risk Consulting Practice and current Chairman of the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants Ireland. I was born in New York , but I moved to the real capital, Cork, when I was six. My strong American accent at the time was quickly replaced by my lovely Cork twang, which I hear only increases in intensity when I talk to other Corkonians. Why did you choose Chartered Accountancy, and how did you get here? Chartered Accountancy sort of found me rather than vice versa. I was just back from my Erasmus year in Germany and the “big-4” accountancy firms were starting to do the milk rounds. As most final year students will be familiar with, the pressure was on to try and figure out what I wanted to do after University, where I was studying a Bachelor of Commerce with German in UCC. I went to the careers fairs on campus and learnt fairly quickly about the traditional Chartered Accountancy route through training with a big-4 practice firm. I never studied accounting, avoiding it even at Leaving Cert level (thinking at the time that accountants weren’t “cool”), but I decided to explore the opportunities further by attending the information evenings held by the big 4 accountancy firms.  The opportunities the qualification would open up for me and the experience that could be gained from doing the graduate programme in a firm like KPMG was immediately evident from those information evenings and talking to trainees who were going through the grad programme. So, I interviewed with KPMG in the Hayfield Manor in the first week of November 2012 and here I am nine years later.  I can safely say that my opinion of accountants has completely changed (and I don’t think I’m biased here!) Most of the accountants I have trained and worked with to date are some of the greatest and most fun people I know. What do you value most about your membership of the profession and how do you think those benefits can be used to support the economy and society?  The massive network that I am now a part of and its global reach. My network has grown significantly through my membership of Chartered Accountants Ireland, and it continues to grow today, even at the same pace as pre-Covid-19. The profession and its relevant District Societies have adapted significantly to the circumstances that the global pandemic presented and have allowed us all to continue to grow our networks even in a virtual world. This adaptability to allow people to continue to connect virtually has helped society from a wellbeing perspective – it has allowed its members to stay connected in an isolated world where lockdowns were frequent and I feel this significantly helped our physical and mental health. I feel that businesses in the community have benefited from this also, in particular small businesses with a link to chartered accountants as a number of supports were opened up to them virtually during the pandemic. Here at the Leinster Society we also offered webinars to businesses such as providing guidance on the rescue options available to them during the pandemic. I feel our members, our society and our economy has benefited hugely from the massive network Chartered Accountants has to offer, allowing us all to learn and grow from each other.    If you weren’t an accountant, what do you think you would you be/have been?    I would love to be able to say that I have always had the dream of being something exciting like an astronaut or a Formula 1 driver but I’m afraid that’s not the case (mainly because I am afraid of heights and far too risk averse to be a race driver – perhaps that’s how I ended up in Risk Consulting). However, I have always had a desire to help people so I reckon I would have been a social worker or carer of some sort. One of the biggest advantages to me and the thing that has also brought me the most joy in my role as Chairman of the Leinster Society has been all the people we have been able to help through our wellness programme this year. We have hosted a number of wellbeing webinars covering physical, mental and nutritional health with some fantastic speakers. We reached more members than ever through the use of virtual platforms and we raised vital funds for organisations such as the Irish Cancer Society, Pieta House and the five children’s charities we supported through our Christmas Charity fundraiser. So while I may not be working directly in a care-giving profession, being Chairman of the Leinster Society this year has allowed me some crucially important opportunities to help others for which I am extremely grateful to have had.   You have just completed your year as chair of the Leinster Society. I know it was totally unforeseen how this year would be, but can you tell us some of the highlights of the year for the society and the benefits for you personally. To say that this year has been the complete opposite to the year I had envisaged when I took the Vice Chairman's Chain from Brian Murphy at the AGM back in June 2019 is an understatement. I refer to it as wiping the slate clean, all pre-booked venues were cancelled, all meetings were booked into Microsoft Teams, and I was facing a year of the complete unknown. However there has been a significant number of highlights and benefits to both the Society and me personally. I made history in being the first ever Chairman of the society to be virtually elected, and hosting the society’s first ever virtual AGM in its 92 years of existence (and successfully so). I met some incredible speakers, learning so much from them about personal, physical and nutritional wellbeing. A lot of these speakers may previously have been out of reach for us but in moving to a virtual world the doors were opened to a whole new range of speakers. We have had the opportunity to collaborate with the other district societies on some fantastic events such as our International Women’s Day Conference where we covered three hugely important topics. Pre-Covid, we were prevented from doing joint events by geographical restrictions. Moving to a virtual world has broken down those barriers and meant we could collaborate with our counterparts anywhere in the country or even those on the other side of the world. But the ultimate highlight for me of course has to be my public proposal from Dustin the Turkey on our Children’s Charities fundraiser. Is there anything you would have done differently during your term as Chair?  I can honestly say there isn’t a thing I would have done differently. It was a completely unprecedented year, and at times it was extremely tough, but I would do it exactly the same all over again if I had to. Covid has taken away a lot of loved ones from us and a lot of people have suffered but we can’t turn a blind eye to all the opportunities and life learnings that it has presented us with. I have built and drawn on levels of resilience I did not know I had and I have learnt to truly appreciate the important things in life. I have hosted virtual events with amazing people who I would not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet. I have helped a huge number of people who I would not have been able to reach without the full support of the society, my fellow committee members and the support staff in the Institute. So to conclude I would like to thank all those who supported me in my role as Chairman of the Leinster Society this year (unfortunately we only have six minutes so I won’t list them all). And finally, I hope that having read this article you will stop for a moment to appreciate all the opportunities that this new way of connecting has presented to you and reflect on the positives arising from the last 13 months, while looking forward to a bright future.   Don't forget to check out your own district society.

'A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So let's all choose to challenge.' International Women's Day has been running since 1911 and is a day where we celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness about women's equality and lobby for accelerated gender parity. This year join all of the District Societies and the Diversity & Inclusion Committee on Friday 5 March for our first ever joint virtual International Women's Day Conference, hosted by Institute Vice President Sinéad Donovan.  Choose your agenda for the day, as we offer you three separate sessions to join, each with a range of high profile speakers and relevant themes; Sport, Education and Diversity & Inclusion. Session 1: 9.30-10.30am - book here Session 2: 11am - 12pm - book here Session 3: 12.30 - 1.30pm - book here More info to come on this exciting event very soon. Stay tuned!   INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY SPEAKERS SPORT SESSION Nicola McCarthy is a sports broadcaster and presenter, with over 10 years experience working in sport - across TV, radio and online platforms. She currently works for BBC 5 Live, BBC Sport and Manchester City TV among others, as well as hosting various events and running her own business – Rondo, which works with elite athletes on social media, content creation, personal branding, commercial partnerships etc. as well as curating niche sporting events. She spent five years working at Manchester City TV, reporting and commentating on the first team domestically, in Europe and beyond - including coverage of three Premier League and three League Cup title wins. She has also reported and commentated extensively on Manchester City women in the Women’s Super League and in Europe. She has also reported on other key events across various sports, including Rory McIlroy’s 2011 US Open win and Ireland’s 2009 Six Nations win. Niamh Briggs is an Irish rugby player born in 1984 who plays as fullback for the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She made her debut for Ireland in 2008 against Italy. She played at the 2010- and 2014-Women’s Rugby World Cup. She made her international rugby sevens debut at the 2016 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix in Kazan, Russia. Briggs attended Waterford Institute of Technology and worked for the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force. She played for Dungarvan R.F.C., Clonmel R.F.C., UL Bohemians R.F.C. and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.  Briggs was credited with the winning points that brought a Grand Slam win for Ireland on St Patrick's Day in Milan in March 2013 and she captained Ireland for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World cup   Sonia O'Sullivan is one of the country's most successful athletes and undoubtedly one of the greatest Irish sports people ever. Born in Cobh in County Cork, Sonia spent many years running around the hills of Cobh before embarking on an Athletics Scholarship to Villanova University. Sonia followed a trail of Irish athletes to Villanova where she graduated in 1992 with a degree in Accountancy ahead of her first Olympic Games in Barcelona.She has been a regular contributor to RTÉ Sport analysing European and World Championship Athletic Events, has authored two books to date and writes a regular column in the Irish Times.Some of Sonia's proudest achievements include: Four time Irish Olympian, current World record holder over 2000m, three times World Champion, World Cross Country long & short course, three times European Champion, Twelve times All-Ireland Champion, and currently holds ten Irish records in every distance from 1000m to half marathon, as well as Dublin City Marathon Winner 2000. Sonia lives in Melbourne, Australia with her daughters Ciara and Sophie. Ireland will always be home to Sonia and she has spent a lot of time commuting from Australia.   EDUCATION With over twenty years’ experience in education management, Dr Orla Flynn commenced her role as President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in March 2020, having been Vice President for External Affairs at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) for the previous six years. Prior to that she led the CIT Crawford College of Art and Design for 8 years following periods as Head of School of Humanities and Head of Department of Media Communications at CIT. She was a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Computing for 13 years before that at CIT. Dr Flynn holds undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Mathematical Physics and Computer Science from University College Cork, an MA in Management in Education from WIT, and a PhD from the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick. Dr. Caroline McGroary is a Chartered Accountant and Lecturer who is passionate about the role of education in transforming lives and society. Originally from Donegal in the North West of Ireland, Caroline trained as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte. Soon after qualifying, she joined Dublin City University (DCU) as a Lecturer in Accounting in its Dublin campus. In 2013, DCU entered a partnership with Princess Norah University (PNU), the largest women’s only university in the world. Driven by her passion for creating impact through education, Caroline moved to Saudi Arabia to be part of this ground-breaking partnership in the education of Saudi women. Over the last eight years, Caroline’s holistic approach to education has allowed her to successfully align her work in the classroom with burgeoning global social issues such as gender equality and sustainability. Her work has been recognised at international conferences and has been nominated for several awards for innovation, excellence in teaching and impact. Caroline recently received the Chartered Star Award from Chartered Accountants Ireland and will represent the profession at the One Young World summit in 2021. Here she looks forward to collaborating with other young leaders to create social impact.  DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Sara R Phillips is a Trans activist working in Ireland. She has been involved with trans activism for over 28 years. She is currently in her third 3-year term as Chair of the Board of Directors of Irelands national trans organisation, Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). She is the founder, researcher and archivist of the Irish Trans Archive. Sara was one of the lead negotiators to the Gender Recognition Act 2015 and served on the Governmental review of the act in 2018.   Sara was honoured as Dublin LGBTQ Pride Grand Marshall in 2018. Sara is also a board member of the International Trans Fund in New York, a board member of Transgender Europe and recently was elected to the board of the National Women's Council of Ireland. Sara is currently the National Manager in Ireland for multinational construction materials manufacturer CPG-Europe.  Louise O’Donnell is the Head of International Operations, Strategy, and Legal & Compliance at Oman Insurance Company. She is based in Dubai, UAE and is responsible for the management of OIC operations in Turkey and Oman.  Louise also manages the key strategic partnerships which are long term relationships which have developed with well known international insurance companies.  In addition she oversees the Legal & Compliance teams.  She is part of OIC Executive Management Team and also a Board Member of two seperate entities which are owned by Oman Insurance Company.   Louise was awarded Women Leader of the Year in 2019 by the Middle East Insurance Industry Awards which was the inaugural year to celebrate the contributions that women bring to the insurance industry.     Baz  Ashmawy is  an Emmy  and  IFTA  Award  Winning TV  and Radio  Broadcaster  who  has  been  a  truly  exciting  Talent  on  our airwaves  for  over  ten  years. Most  recently,  Baz  presented ‘DIY SOS’ on RTÉ One. During this show, Baz and his team set out to renovate the  homes  of  deserving  families,  changing  their  lives forever. In  December  2020,  Baz  presented  the  documentary ‘Fungie’s  Kingdom’on RTÉ  One where  Baz headed  to  Dingle  to investigate further into where Fungie spent many years. His show ‘Wingman’ aired to phenomenal praise on RTÉ One. The show saw Baz  guide many  different  characters from  all  walks  of  life  on a journey towards making their dreams a reality. The show has been commissioned for a second series.  

DCC has been named the Overall Winner of the Chartered Accountants Leinster Society Published Accounts Awards 2020. It was also awarded winner in the ‘Company listed on a foreign market’ category.  The Published Accounts Awards celebrate the best in Irish corporate reporting in companies, state bodies and charitable organisations, large and small throughout Ireland. Now in their 43rd year, the awards, sponsored by Euronext, takes place virtually for the first time today with guest MC Síle Seoige.  The judging panel noted that reports using clear language, that was precise and explained complex accounting and reporting issues without jargon, scored highly. The judges also urged that changes in regulation and accounting standards should not result in longer reports and were happy to see that there had been a reduction in the average number of pages in the Annual Report amongst entrants.  Chairman of Chartered Accountants Leinster Society, Áine Crotty said: “It is extremely encouraging to see the calibre of reporting right across the board among this year’s winners. Our entrants this year faced a number of challenges brought on by the onset of Covid-19. Nonetheless this did not impact on the quality of the Annual Reports produced and this just showcases the resilience of our members and their organisations and teams. Well done to all those shortlisted and awarded today.”  Head of Equity Listing Ireland at Euronext, Orla O’Gorman, said: “The annual report continues to be one of the most powerful communication tools that a company has when engaging with stakeholders, particularly in this new digital world. It enables them to showcase their business in both financial and non-financial terms, in order to speak to the diverse range of interests of their stakeholders. Euronext is a strong advocate of excellence in stakeholder reporting and congratulates all those shortlisted and receiving awards at this event.” ESB maintained its track record in 2020, winning the ‘Statutory Unquoted Large Entities’ Award for the tenth year in a row.   The full list of award winners is as follows: Category Winner   Overall winner  DCC  Highly Commended  NI Water  Large not-for-profit  Concern  Small/Medium not-for-profit  Barretstown  Company listed on a foreign market  DCC  Statutory Unquoted Large Entity (IFRS)  ESB  Statutory Unquoted Large Entity (Non-IFRS)  DAA  Euronext Growth Award  Total Produce  Small/Medium Quoted Company  Kenmare Resources  Large Quoted Company  CRH plc  CSR and Sustainability Award (Listed)   Kenmare Resources  CSR and Sustainability Award (Unlisted)  NI Water  Diversity & Inclusion Award  An Post  Highly Commended Diversity & Inclusion Award  Barnardos  Best Digital Reporting Award  Origin Enterprises  Best Branding Communication & Marketing Award  Barnardos