Education: Originally from Wicklow, he attended school at De La Salle College in Waterford; he went into accountancy as a fifth-year articled clerk.

Career: He worked with a number of accountancy firms before spending three years in industry with a Smurfit subsidiary; following that he joined Hayden Brown where he was a partner for nine years before joining the institute in 1984.

Family: Married to Madeleine, they have three grown-up daughters.

Interests: Cycling and walking for exercise; an occasional golfer, he enjoys reading, particularly John LeCarre novels.

Why in the news: The Blayney inquiry into possible professional misconduct by some of the ICAI's members is set to resume shortly.