Development Council

Mark is an independent director, strategic consultant and chairman of a number of regulated property funds. He is the current chairman of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, the General Lighthouse Authority for the Island of Ireland and its adjacent seas. He served as the Chair of the Joint Strategic Board of the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland in 2021 and 2022. He is also a solicitor (non practicing) and retired partner of the Dublin law firm, Arthur Cox. He was head of the Arthur Cox Commercial Real Estate Practice from 2006 to 2016 and a member of the Management Committee (Executive Board) of the firm from 2002 to 2016. His field of expertise (where he practiced for over 30 years) is commercial real estate, including the purchase, sale, leasing, financing and development of commercial real estate on behalf of institutional and private equity investors and/or owner-occupiers. He is a former member of the Conveyancing Committee of the Law Society of Ireland and a former convenor of the Conveyancing Committee task force on commercial leases. He is a member of the Development Council of the Sutherland School of Law at UCD. He graduated from UCD in 1984 with a BCL and also holds a UCD Diploma in Dispute Resolution (Mediation) 2023.

Roisin Brennan is a former Chief Executive of IBI Corporate Finance Ltd and is currently a non-executive director of Ryanair Holdings plc, Glanbia plc, Musgrave Group plc and Dell Bank International DAC. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen and  is a BCL graduate from University College Dublin.

Michael is a Senior Counsel practising in the fields of commercial, competition,  EU law and judicial review.  Hegraduated UCD with an M.A. in economics and an LL.M.  He also took an LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Finance before joining the New York law firm of Shearman and Sterling. He returned to Ireland in 1981 to commence practice at the Irish Bar. A member of the English, Northern Ireland, New York and US Supreme Court Bars, Michael also practices from Monckton Chambers in London.In 1996 he was appointed by the Irish Government as Chairman of the Competition and Mergers Review Group the majority of whose recommendations were subsequently implemented into Irish law in the Competition Act 2002. Michael also appears in commercial arbitrations (domestic and international) both as counsel and as arbitrator.  He has had appointments as arbitrator from the ICC Court of Arbitration and is one of Ireland’s representatives on the ICC Commission on Arbitration.  He is also a member of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Panel of Arbitrators and is outgoing President of Arbitration Ireland.  Michael is Chairman of the Irish Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (Irish Sports Council) and is the External Examiner in Arbitration and Mediation to the King’s Inns.

Michael was elected a Bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns in 2007 and the following year was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in the United States.  He is also a member of Lincoln’s Inn and Middle Temple. He was Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland 2008  – 2010. In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers. He has been a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Maynooth on Legal Aspects of Competition and Regulation in Maynooth’s Master of Economic Science Programme.  He is currently Adjunct Professor of Law at UCD Law School. In the much more interesting parts of his life he is a board member of All Hallows College, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Irish Film Institute.

Ronan P. Harty is a partner in the antitrust group at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City.  He provides general antitrust counseling to U.S. and non-U.S. companies and represents clients in enforcement agency investigations, domestic and cross-border acquisitions and joint ventures, and litigations.

Mr. Harty joined Davis Polk in 1986 and became a partner in 1994.  In 1991, he was based in Brussels as an assistant (stagiaire) in the cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan, Vice President of the European Commission Responsible for Competition Policy.

Mr. Harty graduated with a BCL (1^st Class Honours) from UCD in 1984.  He received an LL.M from the University of Michigan Law School in 1986.

Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel and a former politician. Mr McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats in the mid-1980s. He was elected as a TD for Dublin South–East on three occasions.  During his years in public life, McDowell also served as Attorney General (1999–2002), as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (2002–07), as leader of the Progressive Democrats (2006–07), and as Tánaiste (2006–07). In 2007 he resigned as PD party leader and announced his retirement from public life; he has since resumed his private legal career.
Micheal McDowell was educated at Gonzaga College, then at University College Dublin where he became auditor of the UCD Law Society. He later attended the King's Inns in Dublin where he achieved the Barrister-at-Law degree in 1974.  He was appointed a Senior Counsel in 1987 when he was 35 years old. 

Sile McGuckian FitzPatrick graduated with a law degree from Trinity College Dublin in 1988.  She obtained her master’s degree in 1989 and her doctoral degree in 2004 both from Oxford University where she attended Balliol College.  She was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in 1991 and practiced as a barrister in Chambers at 3 Kings Bench Walk, Temple, London.  She was admitted to the Bar of the State of New York in 1995 and practised as an attorney at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton.  She returned to Ireland in 1997 and worked for McCann FitzGerald Solicitors.  After completing her doctorate, she lectured in the law of evidence in UCD.  She is currently a director of Sonas Housing Association.   She is also a Director of the FitzPatrick Family Foundation.

Professor Niamh Moore-Cherry was appointed Dean of Social Sciences and College Principal of the College of Social Sciences in February 2024. She is also a Full Professor in the School of Geography and Honorary Professor at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. Prior to her current role, Niamh was Deputy Principal in the College of Social Sciences and Law and has previously been Vice-Principal for Teaching and Learning (VPTL) in the College (2018-2021), and was instrumental in leading the response to the Covid-19 pandemic at both College and University level. 

Niamh is an internationally recognised inter-disciplinary social science researcher with roots in the academic discipline of geography working specifically at the intersection of urban studies, regional development, governance and sustainability. Her distinctive contribution to knowledge, policy and practice has been in leading and shaping debates on the territorial politics of local, urban and regional development in Ireland, the UK and  North America. She founded and leads the Cities, Governance and Sustainability ((opens in a new window)www.citiesgovernancesustainability.eu) research group in UCD which brings together academic, policy and community engaged work. Evidence of the esteem in which she is held include multiple invitations from government departments, state agencies and intergovernmental organisations to provide research and policy advice. 

She has significant external leadership and engagement experience as Past President of the Geographical Society of Ireland and she is Chair of the 35th International Geographical Congress to be held in Ireland in August 2024. Previously she has served two terms on the Royal Irish Academy Social Sciences Committee, and two terms on the Geographical and Geosciences Committee.  In summer 2022, she was appointed as an independent member of the advisory National Economic and Social Council (NESC) by An Taoiseach. In September 2023, she was invited by the OECD to participate in a high level meeting to inform the shape of the next European Commission Cohesion Funds.

Emma Redmond, acts as Lead Privacy Counsel at Stripe and was formerly Head of International Data Protection at Ancestry.com and LinkedIn.com.  As a risk and compliance professional, her experience spans from working cross-culturally within US multinational organisations to acting as a proactive and strategic partner to business leaders.  She is an active and regular speaker at data protection events across Europe and has published a number of academic articles in her field of expertise. She was chosen for the Leadership in Law programme at Harvard Law School in May 2017. She was formerly  Chair of the General Counsel forum at the American Chamber of Commerce, current Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Data Protection Group, a Member of the Inner Temple and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Sally Anne is Head of the Commercial Real Estate Department at Matheson. She is an accomplished and commercially focused lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in acquisitions and disposals across all asset classes; site development; commercial landlord and tenant; real estate investment, commercial real estate aspects of corporate transactions, including the sale and purchase of both private and public companies; and advising owner/occupiers on the acquisition of office, industrial, manufacturing, and technical/data centre premises.

Sally Anne has advised on the largest and most significant real estate transactions in the Irish market over the last five years across each sector of the market.

She has a breadth of experience in running sophisticated transactions and her in-depth knowledge of the market has resulted in her being first choice as trusted advisor to some of Ireland’s largest occupiers (both tenants and owner/occupiers) on the development, letting and ongoing management of their office and technical space. Sally Anne has advised one of the largest international tech giants for over 15 years in respect of all its real estate requirements in Ireland.