Team size: 28 

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months? 

Uisce Éireann provides essential water services to 80% of Ireland’s population, investing over €2 billion annually in capital and operational expenditure. It oversees 4,000 people and manages more than 8,000 water and wastewater treatment plants. I lead the legal, secretariat, and data protection teams, delivering the legal services, governance, and data oversight needed to support this scale of activity. 

My team and I are central to two once-in-a-generation infrastructure projects: the Greater Dublin Drainage (GDD) project and the Water Supply Project for the Midlands and Eastern Region (WSP). We advise on procurement and contracting strategy, governance, land acquisition, planning and environmental consents, and challenge-proofing. 

Over the past year, I’ve advised on legislative and regulatory barriers to critical infrastructure delivery, and potential solutions, to enable not only our major projects but also sustainable rural development. To further enable the Government’s Housing for All programme, our legal team has worked on over 400 connection and developer service matters in 2025, including bespoke agreements, and legally robust process improvements.  

In addition to the above capital and developer agreements, the team has drafted and negotiated many other complex contracts, from Ringsend DBO extensions to IT and facilities frameworks.  

Uisce Éireann’s ongoing implementation of AI is a key project, and I have advised on privacy, ethics, governance, and legal risk, while also progressing use of AI to enhance legal and contractual workflows. 

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how can general counsel contribute to driving such initiatives within the organisation? 

Sustainability is at the heart of Uisce Éireann’s vision for a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected. The company aims to be a low carbon, climate resilient exemplar and has a robust sustainability framework, with clear ambitions and initiatives. 

As Chief Legal Officer, I contribute by advising on Board and committee governance and contributing to strategy and oversight at Executive level. The legal team advises on legal obligations such as CSRD, climate policy, nature restoration, and biodiversity. 

Sustainability is embedded in our procurement processes, including for our legal panel, and sustainability criteria form part of the KPIs for our external legal providers. I consider my role in driving culture as equally important—whether through supporting Uisce Éireann’s diversity and inclusion programmes or focusing our recent CLO team off-site on social value initiatives like Green Schools, volunteering, and pro bono work. 

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful? 

The regulatory landscape is becoming increasingly complex e.g. in data, cyber-security, resilience, AI, and environmental law. In-house lawyers play a crucial role in navigating companies through this complexity, using a deep understanding of the law and business needs, balanced against the regulators’ perspective.   In-house lawyers must use sound judgement, clear communication, cross-functional influence, and the ability to think ahead, to avoid the financial, operational and reputational consequences of non-compliance. 

Employee attraction and retention remain a key priority. Delivering agile, business-focused legal services depends on an engaged, high-performing team. Purposeful work, a collaborative culture where lawyers are valued and trusted, and flexible working practices can help in-house teams compete with law firms for top talent. 

Finally, legal operations are continuing to gain prominence in Irish in-house practice, enabling legal to be seen as a proactive, data-driven business partner. This is done through streamlining processes, enabling self-serve, ensuring visibility, leveraging technology (including AI), and ensuring team focus aligns with business needs through surveys and other feedback.