ICAI to appoint first non-accountant to council

Ireland's largest accountancy body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), has announced that Mr John Travers has accepted an invitation to join the organisation's council.

This is the first time an Irish accountancy body has appointed a non-member to its governing body.

President of the ICAI, Harry Saville, said:" We want to create a more modern governance structure for the Institute and in addition to the appointment of a non-institute member, we are also reducing the numbers on council and the terms of office of Council members. Furthermore, all our committees, which deal with complaints, now have a majority of non-institute members."

He added, "We are delighted that John has accepted our invitation to join the council. His broad experience in the public sector and particularly his leadership and expertise in fostering effective interaction between the public and private sectors will greatly enhance our work."

Mr Travers will shortly step down from his post as Chief Executive of Forfas, the Republic of Ireland's national policy and advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation. He is currently a board member for the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business at UCD.

Commenting on his appointment to the Council John Travers said: "I was delighted to accept the Institute's invitation. The accountancy profession plays a key role in the professional services sector and in supporting economic development generally and I look forward to making a contribution to the work of the ICAI Council."

As Chief Executive of Forfas, John Travers has overseen the development of a new approach to industrial policy and of new organisational structures for industrial development. He also was strongly involved in the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland and acted as the major role in Forfas' successful EMU Business Awareness Campaign.

Mr Travers was closely involved in the preparation of the Culliton Report on Industrial Policy in 1992, and was previously involved at the department of the Taoiseach in the negotiation and writing if the first Social Partnership Programme in 1987.

(CG/SP)