Solicitor Cathie Shannon has been appointed director of general insurance at Brokers Ireland.

Cathie Shannon holds both a BCL (1997) and LLM (1998) from UCD. Brokers Ireland is the leading representative body in Ireland for insurance brokers.

Qualified

She qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and worked in private practice for 16 years, as an associate at A&L Goodbody before specialising in dispute avoidance and dispute resolution for construction professionals at Beale and Co.

She has lengthy experience in high value claims, acting on behalf of Irish and London market insurers.

In her new role at Brokers Ireland, Cathie Shannon will represent the interests of general insurance brokers in dealing with insurers, government agencies and consumers.

Cathie Shannon said that her solicitor skillset will be particularly useful in achieving the strategic objects of Brokers Ireland.

Burden

She said she was struck by the administrative and financial burden placed on general brokers by cumulative and disproportionate regulation, pointing out that compliance is required simply to stay in business.

“I would identify the complex legislative and regulatory burden as a significant business challenge for all general brokers, particularly those with a smaller staff who don’t have the resources to devote to a full-time compliance manager,” she told Irish Broker magazine.