Fergal Ruane
Byrne Wallace Shields LLPLK Shields Solicitors LLP and Byrne Wallace LLP merged at the beginning of 2025 to form Byrne Wallace Shields LLP. The team provides expert advice on project planning and delivery to both public and private sector clients across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, transport, education, technology, energy, utilities, and real estate. The firm has continued to strengthen its presence in the projects and infrastructure space, advising developers on the construction of residential, industrial, and commercial projects. Practice head Fergal Ruane offers a wealth of experience handling PPP and infrastructure projects and is further assisted by real estate experts Michael Walsh and Martin Cooney, who focus on construction law matters. Jamie Ritchie is well-versed in handling both contentious and non-contentious matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Michael Walsh - fantastic. A great leader with an unquenchable desire to provide the best service to his clients. Martin Cooney - Top Class. Fergal Ruane - Excellent.’
- ‘Byrne Wallace Shields delivered an excellent multi-domain expertise team. The practice was very well prepared, responsive and adapted to work.’
- ‘We want to mention Michael Walsh for his excellent steering and Fergal Ruane for his in-depth checks.’
- ‘The team delivers an extremely efficient service, with clear, comprehensive and practical advice on complex legal issues. The advice is always solution-based, providing a clear roadmap for the client to resolve the legal issues.’
- ‘Fergal Ruane - partner. Fergal demonstrates exceptional expertise in procurement law coupled with his practical, commercial approach to matters, which is extremely valuable to a client.’
- ‘One of the main stand-out attributes of the Byrne Wallace Shields' team is its ability to collaborate and dovetail effectively with us (and each other) in advising on the planning and delivery of our projects whilst also naturally adopting an appropriate and healthy level of challenge so that key considerations and risks are identified and owned at an early stage.’
- ‘Fergal Ruane is an invaluable adviser on your team due to his experience advising different stakeholders and players in the market.’
- ‘Our dealings with Byrne Wallace Shields are mostly through Jamie Ritchie. Jamie is a very diligent, knowledgeable, and commercially savvy solicitor. He is adept at identifying the issues that arise or exist quickly. He understands the law with which he works and is always focused on creating or finding a solution.’
Key clients
- Keppel Data Centres Ireland Limited
- Clancourt Group
- Hitachi Energy Ireland
- Castlethorn Construction
- Geopura
- Ballymore Group
- K2 Data Centres
- Neodyne
- European Parliament
- Fingal County Council
- Dublin City Council
- National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
- ISH ICAV
- Kajima Ireland Limited
- Glasgiven Construction Limited
- Elkstone Capital Partners Limited
- Ellwood Homes Development Limited
- Purcell Construction
- Fidelis Insurance Ireland DAC
- McMahon Design and Management Limited
- CareChoice Group
- Gowan Motor Distribution Limited
- Ameresco Limited
- Seabased
- Crane Hire Limited
- October Investments
- Manufacturing Conglomerate
Work highlights
- Advised a Dublin-based developer on a 189-unit social housing scheme in Dublin City Centre.
- Advised Gridbeyond on on-site solar power purchase agreements and the development of battery energy storage systems.
- Advised an Irish consultancy firm on a number of design team-led consultancy appointments for various projects.
Lawyers
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Practice head
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Fergal Ruane