FITZPATRICK ASSOCIATES - Key Persons
Alison has worked in a range of support areas in Fitzpatrick Associates since 2013. These include administrative support, communication and website maintenance. She prides herself on delivering accurate, high-quality work at all times. She understands the need of clients and is strongly focused on customer satisfaction.
Alison has a range of qualifications and experience in the areas of secretarial and administrative services. She is a qualified Medical Secretary, and is currently completing a degree programme in management practices at the University of Ulster.
Brendan Kearney is the Executive Director of Brendan Kearney and Associates. He was formerly Deputy Director of An Foras Taluntais (The Agricultural Institute) and Head of its Rural Economy Research Centre until 1989. In that organisation he was responsible for planning, controlling and directing the research programme in policy analysis, production economics, marketing and rural development. In 1990 he established his own consultancy firm which has provided research and consultancy services in policy monitoring and evaluation, international trade and EU policy and programme information. Areas of expertise include agricultural economics, rural development, policy and sectoral studies, forestry economics, and programme and policy evaluation. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in agricultural science from UCD and the Michigan State University, USA
Brendan Shiels, Senior Associate, is an experienced economic and management consultant with over 15 years' experience of economic evaluation, appraisal and analysis in Ireland. An associate with Fitzpatrick Associates, his previous employers also include the Republic of Ireland consulting practices of Arthur Andersen and KPMG. Clients include Government Departments, the EU Commission, state agencies, local authorities, business representative groups and private companies. Brendan has particular experience in the assessment of value-for-money in the procurement of public infrastructure, and has advised and supported the Irish Prison Service, the Courts Service, An Garda Siochána, and the National Roads Authority regarding the assessment of value for money in PPP projects. He has a Bachelors and Masters degrees from University College Dublin.
Jim Fitzpatrick is the Managing Director of the firm. He has over 30 years' experience of economic, policy and strategy consultancy in Ireland and internationally. Specialities include sectoral studies, industrial policy, international trade and development, EU structural and investment funds, regional and local development and public service modernisation. As well as Ireland, he has also carried out consultancy projects for international organisations in a wide range of countries including Hungary, Romania, Kenya, Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. Prior to establishing the firm, he worked for three years at the Irish National Board for Science and Technology and for four years with United Nations development agencies. The author of a number of publications on economic and industrial development issues. He has a Doctorate in Economics from University College Dublin.
Joan is Accounts Manager with Fitzpatrick Associates. Joan has returned to this role in recent years, having previously held the post during the 1990s.
She also has extensive experience as an accounts manager in tourism and in manufacturing industry, and with the National Lotteries in New Zealand. Joan places a premium on accuracy, clear presentation and timely delivery.
Joan holds a BSc in Business from the University of Ulster and is also a qualified Accounting Technician from Accounting Technicians Ireland, formerly the Institute of Accounting Technicians Ireland (IATI).
John McEniff has wide economic research and consulting experience in both the public and private sectors. He worked as an economic consultant with the firm from 1984 to 1988, then joined the New Zealand Treasury for two years and returned to Fitzpatrick Associates in 1990. His areas of interest include the appraisal of public expenditure projects, tourism policy, industrial economics, economics of education and training, environmental issues and macro-economic forecasting. He has undertaken a variety of market research, cost benefit and policy studies in areas such as tourism, hospitality, transport, food, retailing, environment and housing. John combines his consultancy activity with a management role in a family hotel and leisure group. He holds a double honours Degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a Master's Degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada).
Niall Crosbie has over 15 years of economic consulting, public policy and strategic consulting experience in a range of areas. These include transport, tourism, leisure, enterprise and trade, public policy evaluation, policy development, strategy development, market research, feasibility assessment, labour market and skills needs analysis, and forecasting. With Fitzpatrick Associates he has worked on over 50 consulting assignments for clients in the public and private sectors, both in Ireland and overseas. He has also worked as a consultant with a specialist tourism consulting firm and with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Niall has a B.A. Degree in History and Politics and a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies (Banking and Finance) from University College Dublin, an MBS in Economics from the University of Limerick, and is currently a PhD student in Waterford Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant With
Stephen Walsh has been an associate consultant with Fitzpatrick Associates for nearly 30 years. During this period he has undertaken a wide range of consultancy assignments for public and private sector bodies in areas such as Foreign Direct Investment, Regional and Local (urban and rural) Development, and the Evaluation of EU Programmes. He previously worked as an economist with the Industrial Development Authority, where he managed the policy formulation and analysis unit, including the development of a project evaluation model and ongoing monitoring of the industrial incentive package. He was also a lecturer in the School of Real Estate and Construction Economics, Dublin Institute of Technology, mainly in the area of Investment Analysis, Quantitative Analysis and Real Estate Finance. He holds a double honours degree in Economics and Mathematical Economics & Statistics from Trinity College, Dublin. He also holds a Master's degree in Economics from University College, Dublin.
Sue Leigh-Doyle has over 25 years experience of human resources research and evaluation consultancy for public agencies in Ireland and internationally. Specialties include employment, training and vocational education, equality, disability, social inclusion, health and safety at work, and arts research. Prior to becoming a consultant she was a Research Manager with FAS (National Employment and Training Authority) in Ireland. Her research work has been published by the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Sue also has extensive consultancy experience on management of vocational training and education in Africa, Russia, Romania and Hungary for the World Bank, ILO and EC.