President Paul Henry recently had a conversation with Conall McGonagle FCA, International Members Representative on Council. Conall has worked abroad for many years and is currently based in New York where he is Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at the Ireland Funds. Here members can read about Conall's role, his observations on the qualification, and plans for engaging with members overseas. PH: Conall, great to talk to you again. I might start by asking you to describe this new role.  CMcG: The role is International Members Representative to Council, representing and advocating for members outside of Ireland and the UK.  About 10% of the Institute’s membership is based overseas and there are already a lot of initiatives underway to connect them. I see this role, for me, and those who come after me, as an opportunity to engage more closely with overseas members and ensure that they can be active stakeholders in existing initiatives, and that they have a clear and effective channel through which to provide their views on future areas of focus for their Institute.  PH: It’s very important because as the organisation expands and increases – we are now at 30,000 members - the key is strengthening and deepening our relevance to members wherever they are in the world. Two thirds of our members are now in business, and coming from a business background myself, you can sometimes feel slightly isolated when you’re outside of the practice environment, often you might be the only finance person in the organisation … any thoughts on that Conall? CMcG: All of that resonates with me – as an overseas member, the relevancy of Institute activity to your working life, and that sense of belonging are so important. I’ve been based overseas for 12 years, and in the past year we’ve been able to connect more through participation in online, virtual conferences that the Institute has been running than ever before; that’s a positive trend, I think. PH: I’m keen to explore how we can strengthen that networking potential. We surveyed members recently on the future shape of events, and the feedback shows that virtual events will remain a central feature of business life in the medium and long term. However, while virtual events offered greater time efficiency and flexibility in the last 18 months, for three in four respondents it came at the expense of networking opportunities. We all miss the peer-to-peer engagement, the personal chat over a coffee and we need to look at how we can develop that for international members. When you have landed in different cities Conall, how have you started your network? And once you’ve started it, could the Institute have done more to support it? CMcG: I started it gradually. When you land in a city, your focus is on settling in, getting your feet under the desk, and then gradually building that network. I think there are definitely more events being held now by the Institute, with higher visibility. When I first moved abroad, it didn’t occur to me that this is a business network that would be internationally available, and it really is, so that was a pleasant surprise.  I find over here in the US, events at the Institute give amazing access because you’re meeting the senior people in a small networking room, and they’re all friendly, available, accessible. I’ve often thought it would be harder in a way back in Ireland because there’s so many more members.  I will say that via the Institute events that I have gone to, I’ve also made friends over here, because it’s very easy to develop those peer-to-peer friendships…it’s just a natural cultural and professional fit– similar interests, experiences so that’s a very positive thing. As to your questions on what the Institute can do to better support members in getting established and building this network, they’re the right questions and they’re the questions I’m asking myself as I take on this role. How do you connect members overseas peer-to-peer in a meaningful way that’s relevant for them? Sure, many members are in big cities, but there’s not always scale because we’re spread out everywhere. Some countries might have only one or two members, so we have to look at doing this in a digital and engaging way.  PH: It’s interesting, I have found that people…when you reach out and invite them to something…it’s incredible the level of engagement we achieve, and this has just increased exponentially during the pandemic. There is such a willingness to become involved, and I know that having this additional representation at Council will help us to build this even further.  Coming back to you Conall, I’m interested in your views on promoting the qualification as a global passport? CMcG: I see it as a global passport. You get your qualification and it’s really respected. While I have my mutual recognition from CPA over here…I still want to keep my Chartered Accountancy, but it’s no harm to have both in the spirit of your embeddedness in your local market. The qualification opened doors for me. I had the opportunity to do a six-month secondment for KPMG in the US, and when you’re getting your visa for the US, you have to detail the professional skills you have. When you can list Chartered Accountancy that helps a lot. A lot of members over here have been able to transfer because of their qualification.  As a student, I didn’t know about that transferability and the mutual recognition agreement, in fact I didn’t realise it until I saw it in action. I know that is something that the Institute now communicates very strongly to incoming students, and this is a big selling point for our profession.  PH: Working with The Ireland Funds, philanthropy is an area close to your heart Conall. How could we as a profession focus more on that? CMcG: I think we’re doing well. We can probably connect the members involved with [not-for-profit special interest groups] more, one-to-one. A lot of members are involved in not-for-profit activities as volunteers or in full time roles like me.  We have a huge amount to offer because of the skill set, so an organisation/charity you participate in will always ask the Chartered Accountant to be the treasurer! It’s a very natural fit, and it helps them so much, especially this past year when they’ve all been struggling with cashflow and financial planning during Covid, so that’s a great positive impact story. I’m trying to share more of those stories, I think there’s an opportunity to highlight them.  Add to this then what members do in the community - in arts or in sports in addition to the charity sector. The role in communities is how I see it…engagement, it’s such a positive impact when you look at what so many different members are doing. For this next generation, engagement and impact are key focus areas for them. As an Institute we can be very proud of and celebrate their achievements.  PH: Moving on to talk about the future of contact and connection, I think for the immediate future we’ll be challenged on the face to face, but I don’t think we’ll ever go back to in-person only. CMcG: I really miss the in-person and I look forward to it again, but I think it’ll be a mixture of both formats for all organisations and people going forward. I’m looking forward to working on this initiative with Gillian Duffy and other colleagues in the Institute.  And to members overseas, I would be very grateful for your feedback on this topic, as your gift to the members and future members.

Can you tell us a little about where you're from? My name is Kevin Nyhan. I'm originally from Bandon in West Cork but have lived and worked in Cork City for many years. I really enjoy living in Cork which has the spirit of a town and a really good atmosphere and strong business and community spirit. It has the benefits of city living yet I'm still only a short drive from West Cork and the scenery, beaches and food scene that Cork has to offer. Tell us why you choose to become a Chartered Accountant and how you got here? I've always had an aptitude for numbers and during secondary school I was always interested in business. I was attracted to a career in business and as I considered what to do after school, accountancy seemed to be a really good career that would give lots of opportunities.  I'm probably unusual for accountants of my age in that I chose not to go to college and instead went down the direct entry route. After my Leaving Certificate I started a training contract with Parfrey Murphy Chartered Accountants in Cork. I did a five year training contract and qualified at the end of 2006. I received really good training there and a grounding in all aspects of accounting, auditing and tax which still stands to me today. I stayed with Parfrey Murphy until 2010 when I left to do some travelling.  After returning home I knew that I wanted to gain experience working outside of practice. AIB were hiring accountants to work as part of the lending teams dealing with SME customers and I joined on a one year contract with the intention of gaining some experience and then moving on to try another sector. However 10 years later I'm still here! I have moved around and worked in a number of different roles and areas and have gained really good experience. I currently work in Credit Risk where my job is to assess and decision loan and funding applications for the Corporate & Institutional Banking division which includes large indigenous and multinational corporates as well as large property and real estate finance transactions. It's really interesting work and my accounting qualification has been key to helping me do my job. 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 recognition and value placed on the Chartered Accountant qualification by businesses and non-accountants has been the key benefit to me personally. People may not be fully aware of what accountants always do but I feel there is a general recognition that accountants are well trained in their profession and bring key disciplines and experience that can be applied to any sector and beyond the core finance area. Chartered Accountants have always played a leading role in the economy and contribute back to society. Many members use their professional skills to support charities and clubs as officers, particularly in treasurer roles, and members do tremendous work which is often unnoticed and under the radar. I was previously a volunteer with CAVA (Chartered Accountants Voluntary Advice) an initiative of Chartered Accountants Ireland. CAVA works together with the Citizens Information Service (CIS) and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), to provide advice to local people who cannot afford the services of an accountant. It's a great service and a strong example of how we as a profession can use our skills to support society. You have just completed your year as chair of the Cork 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. I've been a member of the Cork Society Committee for seven years and I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It has given me opportunities to build networks within the local business community and to develop personal skills, particularly public speaking and communication skills. It certainly has been an unusual year as chair and COVID has dominated everything during my term. However the society has evolved how we do things and serve our members by swiftly moving all our activities online. It hasn't always been easy and we haven't been able to put on our full complement of events but we were able to deliver a strong calendar of events. Highlights for me included hosting a really interesting discussion with Michael McGrath TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform who is also a Chartered Accountant. Also, we have been able to work more closely with the other district societies than ever before. Organising joint events with them has been really good and something I hope can continue beyond COVID. Is there anything you would have done differently during your term as Chair? Given the circumstances that COVID has presented it was always going to be a challenging year, trying to adjust and still deliver a calendar of events. However I think as a committee and a district society, we managed to continue to serve our members. I'm really proud that we were able to do so despite the unprecedented challenges. Unfortunately we were unable to host some of our flagship in-person events including the annual Daffodil Day breakfast for the Irish Cancer Society and our Christmas Lunch. I remain hopeful that we will be able to run those events over the next year in some shape or form. And finally, Kevin, if you weren’t an accountant, what do you think you would you be/have been? Like every child I probably harboured dreams of a career as a professional athlete but my severe lack of skill and ability put an end to that! I've always been interested in politics and public affairs so I think if I hadn't become an accountant I may have worked in that area. On a completely different front, I have a real interest in food and particularly coffee so perhaps whenever I hang up the calculator I might finally fulfil the dream of opening a small coffee shop.

We caught up with Martin Devine, a member based in Perth, Western Australia, for a quick chat. Can you tell us a little about where you're from originally? I'm from just outside Ballymagorry in Tyrone, around 20 minutes from Derry and just across the border from Donegal. Why did you choose to become a Chartered Accountant and how did you got here? I became a CA to follow on from my degree in Accountancy. I always enjoyed working with numbers and it seemed like the next logical step. At that point I didn’t have a clear idea of where I'd like to end up career wise, but I thought the CA would help as a next step. I travelled to Australia with my girlfriend for a year in 2010 and we haven’t given up yet. I started off in a range of roles over eight years working with a private engineering company and in 2018 I moved on to Mader Group, an ASX listed heavy equipment maintenance company in the Group Financial Controller role. 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? I think the thing I appreciate most is how difficult it was to attain membership. The hours of travel, classes, study, exams really galvanised students on the way through. The result is that now when I see Irish CA on a CV, it immediately stands out from the rest. I was told by my practice partner when leaving Ireland that the Irish qualification was very well thought of, but it wasn’t until I started hiring that I realised the consistent high standard of people who make it through the programme. You have just spent the last 15 months living with Covid in Perth, Australia. Tell us a bit what that was like for you professionally and personally Professionally it's been a challenge. Border restrictions internationally and interstate have restricted our people movement which has made it difficult to continue to grow. Quarantine costs from travel and staff retention during this period have seen a hit on margin but that’s recovering now and we’re seeing growth back on a steady path locally and internationally. Personally, it's been tricky at times. We’ve had a few short sharp lockdowns but comparatively we’ve been incredibly lucky to still move freely for most of that period. We’ve welcomed our second baby in the last three months so busy times at home! Where is the first place you will go when travel in and out of Australia re-opens? We’d love to go home and show off our new boy. He hasn’t met his grandparents yet so would be great to get home for a period. A beach holiday would be great, but I think restrictions of some sort will be here across Asia for a while. And finally, Martin, if you weren’t an accountant, what do you think you would you be/have been? I always fancied myself running a restaurant, not sure if it would be front of house or in the kitchen but that would be the idea I think. Set aside the lack of cooking skills and knowledge of food retail!  

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.