[caption id="attachment_70829" align="alignright" width="600" caption="Liam Quirke, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley and Minister Joan Burton at the MOP celebratory gathering. "]
More than 200 business executives, senior government officials and leading foreign investors in Ireland gathered at the New York Athletic Club recently for a cocktail reception celebrating Irish law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice's 15-year anniversary in the U.S.
The event, which was opened by Irish government minister Joan Burton, highlighted the close links between the U.S. and Ireland, with attendees including New York City Council member Elizabeth Crowley.
Welcoming guests to the event, MOP managing partner Liam Quirke said: "International companies and financial institutions represent more than 70 percent of our business including 27 of the world's 50 largest banks and more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. It is how we differentiate ourselves."
Ireland's largest law firm, Matheson Ormsby Prentice employs over 600 people across its offices in Dublin, New York, Palo Alto and London. Last year, MOP announced further investments in its U.S. offices, with one of Ireland's most prominent international tax advisers, John Ryan, relocating to New York to run the firm's U.S. offices.
In his address at the event, Mr. Quirke also recapped findings from "Investing in Ireland - A survey of foreign direct investors," a recent Economist Intelligence Unit report commissioned by MOP, which predicts that global multinationals and foreign investors will invest an estimated $7.5 billion in their Irish operations over the next three years.
"This survey is about understanding and sustaining Ireland's unique selling proposition as the premier low-tax, pro-business gateway jurisdiction to the European internal market," he said.
The report examines the main factors that bring foreign investment to Ireland and the main challenges in attracting it. It identifies that there are four key cornerstones to Ireland's FDI offering: access to the EU internal market; the overall business tax infrastructure; the ability to supply a skilled pool of labor, and a stable legal and fiscal framework. To access the full report, go to www.mop.ie/fdi.
Matheson Ormsby Prentice, according to a release, was the first European firm to establish an office in Silicon Valley, and has advised on some of the most significant FDI projects by U.S. companies in Ireland in recent years.
It has advised on more cross-border mergers and acquisition transactions with an Irish element than any other firm in the past three years and of the new job-creating projects backed by the Industrial Development Authority in Ireland in 2011, MOP advised on over 40 percent.
The firm focuses primarily on serving the Irish legal needs of international companies and financial institutions doing business in and through Ireland. It represents many of the Fortune 500, FT Global 500 and FT Euro 500 companies, including 27 of the world's 50 largest banks and over 50 percent of the Fortune 100 companies. The firm also acts for some of the largest public, private and state owned companies in Ireland.
