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!
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