About

Valerie Barlow is the head of legal at New Ireland Assurance, supported by three qualified lawyers, namely Shane Carragher, Richie Dingley and Patrick Collins, who are all of equal rank. In addition, the team also includes pensions expert Joseph O’Brien, who is the next most senior person on the team, and two administrators. New Ireland Assurance is a major insurance, investments and pensions company headquartered in Dublin. In the last couple of years, the expanding legal team at the company has made a number of changes ‘to adapt to the pace of regulatory change, including instituting a paperless office initiative, conscious shifting from adversarial tone and adopting and encouraging use of “plain English” to the greatest extent possible’, explains Barlow. The regulatory environment has greatly increased with EU regulations and directives playing an increasing role, such as with the Solvency II, GPDR, PRIPPs and IDD regulations. These are key regulatory projects that have been worked on tirelessly by the legal team to great effect.