The Legal 500

Arthur Cox provides ‘exemplary service’. During a busy year, standout matters included acting on every major wastewater upgrade in greater Dublin, and advising Covanta on the country’s largest waste-to-energy project. Deborah Spence is ‘conscientious, thoughtful, and always prepared’; Brendan Slattery is ‘creative’; and consultant Yvonne Scannell is also recommended.

‘Second to none’, Matheson Ormsby Prentice fields ‘very strong teams with individual skill sets’. Nicola Dunleavy is highly regarded, and ‘a pleasure to deal with’. The group advised new client Bord Gáis on the proposed 40km downstream gas pipeline to the Endesa generating station at Great Island, Wexford.

McCann FitzGerald’s environmental and planning law group advises a mix of local authorities and private sector clients in sectors including retail and waste management. The team is acting for Laois County Council in various claims against developers. Michael O’Reilly heads the practice.

Philip Lee’s ‘top-class’ team ‘provides advice to the highest standards’. It is advising CeltixConnect on a project to install a high-speed fibre optic network between Dublin and Wales. South Tipperary County Council and Dublin City Council are also clients. Alice Whittaker is ‘very experienced, supportive, creative, and thinks laterally’.

William Fry, which provides ‘great business knowledge and access to expertise’, advised Glanpower Limited on an application to develop a significant waste-to-energy facility in Co Offaly and represented Boyne Valley Group in a High Court dispute with Drogheda Borough Council. Conor Linehan is recommended.

A&L Goodbody advised Pfizer on environmental aspects of the prospective sale of the Inchera facility and acted for The Irish Waste Management Association. Practice head Alison Fanagan is highly regarded.

Mason Hayes & Curran is advising Grangegorman Development Agency on a new university and medical campus development in Dublin, which is one of the country’s largest urban regeneration projects.

Beauchamps Solicitors’ Ainsley Heffernan is an expert in renewable energy. He advises SSE Renewables on all property and planning aspects of its Irish wind farm portfolio.

ByrneWallace is advising Imperative Energy on planning aspects of a new facility in Co Dublin.

Eversheds is advising Whitestuff on regulatory matters including contamination, asbestos and energy efficiency. Sean Greene heads the team.

LK Shields Solicitors’ environmental group advises on issues including waste management, environmental liability and emissions trading.

Margaret Austin is the key lawyer at Eugene F. Collins, which advised Coillte on the new Planning and Development Act and implications for its forestry activities.

Finola McCarthy heads Ronan Daly Jermyn’s planning practice, which has been acting in various high-profile disputes.

Holmes O’Malley Sexton acted for a pharmaceuticals company on environmental prosecutions arising from explosions at its plant.