Brian McEnery, ACCA Ireland President's Dinner

300 people attended Brian McEnery's ACCA President's Dinner in Limerick's international rugby stadium Thomond Park on Friday February 19th. Brian is a partner with Limerick accountants and business advisors Horwath Bastow Charleton and a member of the ACCA's global Council.

Guests at the event included Crowe Horwath's Regional Director for the EMEA region Bernard Delomenie and his wife Francine, and new Horwath HTL UK Principal Erlend Heiberg. Brian and his fellow partners in Horwath Bastow Charleton in Limerick used this opportunity to introduce their senior staff and receive an update from Bernard on the implementation of Crowe Horwath's strategic plan.

Pictured at Brian McEnery's ACCA President's Dinner were (L-R) Ger Blake, Pat Sheehan, EMEA Regional Director Bernard Deloménie, Francine Deloménie, Brian McEnery, Dr. Una Ni Bhroimeil, Con Quigley, Mary McKeogh, Liam Hession, Horwath HTL UK Principal Erlend Heiberg

The Limerick firm made a large investment in supporting the event which achieved the highest attendance in years for the ACCA annual Irish dinner - no doubt boosted by Brian's profile since his appointment as non-executive director of the National Asset Management Agency by the Irish Minister for Finance in December 2009. In has speech, Brian had the opportunity to introduce Bernard as his special guest and he thanked his many guests, including his international Crowe Horwath colleagues, and spoke about the need for the highest of standards across the business, finance, and accounting sectors. "Ethics should never be compromised. We need a new level of maturity and robustness in how we operate as an economy and society. While Irish culture and indeed the culture of the Irish is wonderful and celebrated around the world a lack of accountability has no place in modern Ireland - we need to expect better of ourselves."

The keynote speaker was former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland John Bruton, who made a riveting speech focusing on the measures Ireland needs to take to address its banking and regulatory issues and return the economy to growth. In his speech Mr Bruton stated that, "Ireland needs a new development model. The credit crisis is a symptom of a shift in the world economy that will not reverse itself. The greatest risk we now face is that the country may lose a whole generation of young people to emigration. There is also an unrealistic assumption that, just as emigrants returned in the 1970's and the 1990's, so this generation of potential emigrants will return in ten or fifteen years."

Brian also presented the ACCA Ireland Accountant of the Year award to Brian McGuire from Northern Ireland's McGuire and Farry.

ACCA Ireland President & Horwath Bastow Charleton partner Brian McEnery warms up for his President's Dinner with former Taoiseach John Bruton in Thomond Park.

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