Pictured Left to Right: Fergus Devine, Eva Barrett, Jason Milne
William Fry has appointed Dr Eva Barrett as Consultant in its Energy & Infrastructure sector, bringing additional EU and Irish energy regulatory expertise to the Firm’s energy, climate and environmental law practice.
Eva joins from Solar Ireland, where she was Director of Policy and Regulation. In that role she led the trade association’s regulatory engagement on RESS 6, grid and planning reform, and the implementation of the Net Zero Industry Act, working directly with Government, the CRU, EirGrid and ESBN on the issues shaping the buildout of Irish renewables.
She brings over sixteen years’ experience across private practice, industry advocacy and regulatory leadership. Eva’s career encompasses EU institutional work at the European Commission, academic roles at Trinity College Dublin and Vermont Law School and experience at some of Ireland’s leading law firms. That combination, of practitioner, industry regulatory strategist, and EU Commission experience is unusual in the Irish market and gives her a perspective most energy lawyers don’t have.
Fergus Devine, Partner and Head of the Energy Group at William Fry, said: “Eva is one of the very few people in Ireland who has worked on EU energy regulation inside the EU Commission, inside a trade association, and in private practice. For clients developing renewables projects here, that matters. Irish energy regulation is shaped and predominantly developed in Brussels. Eva’s understanding of how those decisions are taken and how those decisions interact with and inform Irish laws and regulations gives our clients an edge that can deliver additional value.”
Eva said: “William Fry has built very strong energy, environmental and planning practices, and the firm’s experience and relationships at EU level, including through Brussels, are a real strength. I’m joining at a point where the regulatory architecture for Irish renewables is evolving rapidly. I’m looking forward to working with clients on navigating, shaping and progressing projects through these frameworks.”
