About

Peter McCarthy, legal director, leads a team of three lawyers and Roisin O’Reilly, his personal assistant, at the multi-national media giant, Virgin Media in Ireland. After the acquisition of both TV3 and UTV, the team have taken on the added responsibility of advising the business on the broadcasting side of the business in addition to their previous role of overseeing the platform side of the business (broadband, TV, mobile and telephony). Regarding these changes, McCarthy says, ‘combining both the cable business and the broadcasting business culminating in the ultimate rebrand of TV3 to Virgin Media Television and the launch of a new list of channels including a new sports channel has been a real game changer’. McCarthy has led from the front directing the strategy of the team and creating an exciting place to work. He identifies that, Vincent Costello has been ‘a powerhouse to assist the business in its efforts to extend its network footprint across the country, [and] Blathin Harnett, Elizabeth Igoe Dockery and Sine Proctor have ensured the programming and broadcasting side of the business are kept in check and navigated against pitfalls’. McCarthy adds that the preparations for GDPR and to ensure the business was compliant by May 2018 was an important milestone, and exemplifies that ‘the telecommunications and broadcasting industries are constantly changing with new challenges keeping us on our toes’.