President’s Message

President’s Message

Welcome to the June 2024 edition of Accountancy Plus.
Clodagh Henehan headshot
It gives me great pleasure to be writing my first President’s Message for this edition of Accountancy Plus. It is an honour to be elected as the 51st President of CPA Ireland and it is a privilege to serve the Institute at this level. I would like to thank Mark Gargan for all his hard work as President over the past two years and I want to continue building on the excellent work that Mark and the many Presidents before him have done. I look forward to meeting with you and working with many of you over the coming months.

My ambition as President of CPA Ireland is to continue to build on the great foundations laid before me and to serve CPA Ireland to the best of my ability.

At the recent Extraordinary General Meeting held on 17th May 2024, members of CPA Ireland voted to approve a resolution that would adopt changes to its constitution to facilitate the amalgamation with Chartered Accountants Ireland. As Chartered Accountants Ireland members also approved its bye-law amendments, the two Institutes will now continue to work towards a joint future.

We will continue to discuss how the staff and Councils of both organisations will work together following the amalgamation, ensuring that CPA Ireland’s proud legacy of service to members and the culture and heritage of our Institute will be maintained and enhanced in the newly amalgamated Institute.

As the amalgamation is progressing through the legal processes and the scheme of arrangement, all members of the newly amalgamated Institute will soon be able to reap the benefits of a larger, stronger, more influential Institute.

In the meantime, I look forward to engaging with you, addressing any concerns or questions you may have. These are exciting times ahead for our profession, our students, and our members.

I also look forward to working with Vice Presidents, Michael Kavanagh and Gillian Cregan, with my colleagues on Council and Committees, with the executive team at CPA Ireland and I look forward to meeting many members in person across the next year.

Over the summer, a new programme for the CPA Metaverse, School of Innovation will be created in partnership with Sia Partners and with funding from Skillnet Ireland. As accountants, we know that professional scepticism cannot be taught. As young trainees we learned from our mistakes, we learned how to interrogate data and not to accept words without proof. This new virtual reality programme will be a simulated audit that will enable our trainee and junior auditors to make those mistakes in a hazard free environment, learn from them, and move forward with confidence. The team in CPA Ireland would greatly welcome input from our experienced members to ensure a fit for purpose programme is delivered.

Over the coming months CPA Ireland will host a variety of events including the Summer Socials and the Women in Business. I would encourage as many of you as possible to attend these events at which we will celebrate and honour the success and legacy of CPA Ireland.

Clodagh Henehan signature
Clodagh Henehan
President CPA Ireland