CRH has been announced as the Overall Winner of this year’s Chartered Accountants Leinster Society Published Accounts Awards, in addition to winning the ‘Euronext Dublin (Large Cap > €1bn)’ Award category. The awards, which are sponsored by Euronext, took place in the Shelbourne Hotel for the first time since 2019, with special guest MC Andrew Maxwell. Chairperson of Chartered Accountants Leinster Society, Ann-Marie Costello said: “This evening showcases the best of Irish corporate reporting. These awards have evolved over the last number of years and recognise companies for their achievements across areas such as Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion and Branding, Communication and Digital, not just the financial reporting itself. The continued improvements in the quality of reporting, and in particular, the increased focus on addressing the needs of all stakeholders, is evident in this year’s entries. In particular for me this year, it’s been wonderful to see so many new entrants to the PAA, and indeed first-time winners across a number of the categories. Congratulations to all our worthy winners” Alan D’Arcy, Chair of the Published Accounts Awards, said: “We are living in an environment where business and society are becoming increasingly interlinked.  Shareholders and stakeholders are looking beyond the financial reporting aspects of an annual report and sustainability and ESG reporting are now more important than ever. The Published Accounts Awards play a pivotal role in raising the bar for Irish companies and it is encouraging to see so many of them adopting best practice when it comes to their annual reports.” Of the judging process, Lisa Gilligan, Vice Chair of the Published Accounts Awards commented: ‘All the judges agreed, the standard of Diversity & Inclusion reporting coming through in annual reports has improved vastly over the last number of years and is evident in the running of their businesses. A number of shortlisted companies are now providing more information in this area, including gender pay gap reports and specific Diversity & Inclusion reporting, which was great to see. ‘ Published Accounts Awards judge Shauna Greely, former Chartered Accountants Ireland President, commented on the improvement in Diversity & Inclusion reporting, ‘I have seen significant focus and improvement in Annual Reports on many areas, with a particular call out for the information included on Diversity & Inclusion and Sustainability across all companies.  I would particularly commend those companies who are leading the way and voluntarily disclosing information eg gender pay gap, in advance of this becoming mandatory’ Daryl Byrne, CEO, Euronext Dublin, who sponsored this year’s awards, commented: “High-quality financial reporting is essential for investors and other stakeholders and is an important contributor to well-functioning securities markets, and even more so in challenging economic conditions.  Euronext is delighted to sponsor the Published Accounts Awards which recognizes and celebrates companies who have excelled in their financial reporting and communications with investors and stakeholders.” A total of 25 public and private companies, and 12 not-for-profit organisations competed as finalists across fourteen distinct award categories. CRH took home the big award of the night, the Overall Winner Award as well as scooping the Euronext Dublin (Large Cap > €1bn) Award. Among the category winners were ESB who were delighted to hold onto the award for Statutory or Unquoted Entity (IFRS) for an eleventh year in a row, as well as scooping the Sustainability & ESG Reporting (Unquoted Entity) Award for a second year running. DCC took home the ‘Company listed on a Foreign Market’ Award again this year, and in the ‘Euronext Growth Award’ category Uniphar claimed first place. Glenveagh Properties were awarded top place in the Euronext Dublin (SME < €1bn) category, and Coillte GCA were the winners of the Statutory or Unquoted Entity (Non-IFRS) Award. The Sustainability & ESG Reporting (Listed Entity) Award went to Kerry Group, the award for Branding, Communication & Digital went to Dog’s Trust; the Diversity & Inclusion (Not for Profit) Award was scooped up by Barnardos, with the Diversity & Inclusion (Listed or Unquoted Entity) Award going to Central Bank of Ireland. In the ‘Not-For-Profit’ Award categories, Jigsaw took home the award for the Large category and Aidlink topped the list of Small / Medium charities. The full list of award winners is as follows:   Award Winner Euronext Dublin (Large Cap > €1bn) CRH plc Euronext Dublin (SME < €1bn) Glenveagh Properties plc Company Listed on a Foreign Market DCC plc Euronext Growth Award Uniphar plc Statutory or Unquoted Entity (IFRS) ESB Statutory or Unquoted Entity (Non-IFRS) Coillte CGA Large Not for Profit Jigsaw Small / Medium Not for Profit Aidlink Sustainability & ESG Reporting Award (Listed Entity) Kerry Group Sustainability & ESG Reporting Award (Unquoted Entity) ESB Diversity & Inclusion Award (Listed or Unquoted Entity) Central Bank of Ireland Diversity & Inclusion Award (Not for Profit) Barnardos Branding, Communication & Digital Award Dogs Trust Overall Winner CRH plc

Each year the District Societies plan lunch or evening events for members to celebrate the season. Here is a round up of the events that were held around the country in 2022.   London Society Dinner – Thursday 1 December  The London Society enjoyed their event, "A Christmas Celebration: An evening of music and stories", at the Women's University Club in London. Leinster Society regional dinner – Thursday 1 December Thank you to all members who came along to Kelly's Resort, Rosslare for the Wexford dinner. Mid West Society Dinner – Thursday 1 December Members in the Mid West gathered in the Savoy Hotel, Limerick and heard from Ray Goggins of RTÉ's Ultimate Hell Week and Donn O'Sullivan Leinster Society regional lunch – Friday 2 December Members from Kilkenny and surrounding areas got together for lunch in the Ormonde Hotel. Ulster Society Lunch – Friday 2 December  Members in NI gathered in the Europa Hotel in Belfast for a sold-out lunch and entertainment from comedian Neil Delamare. Their charity partners were NICHS and The Family Appeal. Thank you to all who supported.  Western Society Lunch – Friday 2 December  Members in Galway and surrounding areas got together in the Dean Hotel for lunch and to hear from Izzy Wheels. The event was in support of charity partner, Oscar's Kids. Thank you to everyone who supported.  Cork Society Lunch – Friday 9 December Members in Cork got together in the Maryborough Hotel and heard from guest speakers Donal Lenihan and Billy Holland. Leinster Society Lunch – Friday 9 December The Leinster Society hosted members in the Clayton Hotel in Dublin for lunch with entertainment from comedian Neil Delamare. Members and their guests raised money for Aware.  North West Society Lunch – Friday 9 December  Members from the North West celebrated in the Glasshouse Hotel, with Pat McCann as their guest speaker.

After a two-year hiatus we are delighted to announce the return of our Annual Leinster Society Christmas Lunch. When: Friday 9 December from 12.30pm. Where: The Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road Tickets: €120 / €1200 for a table of ten Guest speaker: Neil Delamere This year's Dublin lunch sees us return to our old stomping ground, the Clayton Hotel Burlington Road, for the biggest industry lunch of the season. Join us, Santa and our very special guest MC stand up comedian Neil Delamere as we kick off silly season while raising money for this year's partner charity, Aware, with a fantastic raffle and fantastic prizes. Larger tables can be accommodated. To book your tickets email us Leinstersociety@charteredaccountants.ie. This event is in partnership with Aware, who we hope to raise substantial funds for on the night through a raffle. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs and all proceeds of the raffle go directly to Aware. We are also welcoming the return of our charity toy drive, where we are asking each attendee to bring a toy for a child, and Santa and his helpers will then collect the toys and they will be shared among up to 10 children's charities, including  Barretstown, YPAR, One Family, Carr's Child and Family Services, the Santa Fund, St Michael's House and Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin, with more to be confirmed. This event is kindly sponsored by Circit and Cpl.