We recently caught up with Andrew O’Flanagan (NY/LN, ’98), Director of the National Development Agency and NewERA within Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). Andrew started as a Davis Polk associate in the Capital Markets group in the New York office before transferring to the London office where he joined the Corporate group.
Read on to learn about Andrew’s experience practicing law in the United States, England and Ireland, his work at the NTMA during the 2008 global financial crisis, and his experience transitioning from a legal to a business role within the Agency.
You grew up in Ireland and did your primary legal degree there. What was it like moving to the United States and adapting to the U.S. legal education system and then a job at Davis Polk?
Ireland and the United States have similar common law legal systems, so much so that my Irish law degree allowed me to sit for the New York bar exam in the summer before I attended Yale Law School for an LL.M. Yale Law School was an incredible place, and I came across several students that I thought might one day become President. Joining Davis Polk in New York after Yale Law School was also an incredible experience as was living on Prince Street in Soho and really getting to know New York.
Do you have a memory of your time at Davis Polk that you would like to share?
The friendships I made and the camaraderie I experienced during my time in the New York and London offices really stand out. In the London office, I was part of a very tight group of around eight associates who became very good friends, all of whom have since left the firm and gone on to great things elsewhere. Although most of us now live in different places and indeed different continents, several of us have remained friends to this day (including my good friend and fellow Davis Polk alumnus Ciarán (Kieran) McIntyre who also lives in Dublin). Plus, I got to travel throughout the United States and Canada for work and later throughout Europe and even as far as Mumbai in India. Those experiences will stay with me forever.
What lessons did you learn at Davis Polk that have stood you well over the years?
When I first joined the New York office, there was a sense of being thrown into the deep end of the pool. It was a question of either sink or swim (luckily, I learned to swim!). But the lessons I learned at Davis Polk have stood me extremely well over the years, namely hard work, attention to detail and getting things done, but all the while trying to see the bigger picture. And all this done with good humour, while treating people with respect no matter their level of seniority. The ability to get on with people is crucial and, indeed, it was a friendship I forged with the general counsel of an Irish client of Davis Polk that led to me being offered a job in Ireland when my wife and I decided to move back to Ireland for family reasons.
Did you have any mentors at Davis Polk or other people who had a positive impact on your career?
Ronan Harty, a Davis Polk partner who also comes from Ireland, was extremely helpful when I first expressed an interest in working at Davis Polk. A few partners from my time in the London office also stand out. I worked very closely with David Wells representing clients such as ICI, formerly one of Britain’s largest companies, and Reliance Industries, the Indian conglomerate. David is a true gentleman and a pleasure to work with. Paul Kumleben, the then head of the London office, was also very supportive, as was Keith Kearney, who I sat next door to in London for several years.
Ireland was hit hard by the global financial crisis from 2008 onward. What role did the National Treasury Management Agency play in Ireland’s recovery and what was your role in that?
Yes, Ireland was particularly negatively impacted by the global economic crisis in 2008. The country experienced one of the largest house price crashes in the world, the main Irish banks had to be guaranteed and then recapitalised and effectively nationalised by the Irish Government and the so-called “troika” of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund eventually stepped in with billions of euros in loans. The NTMA, which manages Ireland’s national debt and a sovereign wealth fund amongst other activities, played a very important role in the efforts to stabilise the Irish economy and as Chief Legal Officer I had to advise on many of the complex legal issues that arose at that time. It was a very difficult period, not least for the many Irish people who lost their jobs and had to endure austerity for several years, but well over a decade later, Ireland’s economy has recovered and is now on a sound footing.
You moved from a legal role to a business role at the NTMA a number of years ago. Tell us about that.
I moved from being Chief Legal Officer to Director of both the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) and the New Economy and Recovery Authority (NewERA). The NDFA delivers public infrastructure projects on behalf of the Irish State and in recent years has delivered schools, university facilities, courthouses and social housing throughout Ireland in support of the Irish Government’s long-term strategy for public infrastructure delivery. NewERA provides corporate finance advice to the Irish Government in relation to its shareholdings in 24 strategically important State-owned companies, including Ireland’s biggest energy and water companies, airports and ports and public transport companies. The NDFA and NewERA have a combined staff of around 100 people, so my main job nowadays is managing teams of people and ensuring that the mandates of the NDFA and NewERA are carried out effectively.
What’s it like living and working back in Ireland?
My wife and I spent almost 10 years in the United States and England and three of our four children were born in London, so it was a massive change when we moved back to Ireland. But we are well settled here now and greatly appreciate the quality of life, excellent education system and healthy work-life balance that Ireland offers. In addition to my day job, I have been a board member of charitable and public companies over the past 10 years and I find that work very rewarding. Ireland is very close to continental Europe so most of our family’s summer holidays involve exploring countries such as France, Greece, Italy and Spain. And I’m glad to say that a number of my friends from my Davis Polk days (including Larry Chu, Chris Maher, James O’Brien, Edwin O’Connor and Adam Wells) have come to visit us in Dublin.