Claire Waterson

Partner

Claire Waterson is a Partner in William Fry’s Competition & Regulation Department advising on all aspects of Irish and EU competition law, including merger control, restrictive practices, State aids, public procurement and free movement.

Claire Waterson

Claire specialises in sectoral regulation with a particular emphasis on telecommunications.

Recent significant deals include advising:

Aughinish Alumina on its successful EU General Court challenge to a Commission State aid decision
ComReg (Irish communications regulator) on a number of regulatory enforcement matters
Electricity Supply Board on the Irish merger control aspects of its acquisition of the transmission and distribution assets of Northern Ireland Electricity

Ranking & Recommendations

2025 Chambers Europe

"Claire Waterson is absolutely excellent." "Claire is responsive, collaborative, commercial and has broad expertise." "Claire Waterson is very technically talented."

2024 Legal 500 EMEA

"Cormac Little SC and Claire Waterson would be stand-out in any jurisdiction. They possess huge intellectual capital and client-facing capabilities." "This is a very good practice, led by the extremely capable Cormac Little SC and the resourceful and focused Claire Waterson amongst others. They have now become statespersons in the competition world."

Practice Areas

Competition Law

Public Procurement

Sectoral Regulation

ESG & Sustainability

Competition & Regulation

Public Sector

Related Sectors

Technology, Data & Comms

Related Knowledge

Article and Insights

7

Feb 2025

Ireland’s FDI Screening Regime – Do you need to notify?

This article helps parties determine whether they need to notify their transaction...

Partner

Sheila Tormey

Article and Insights

11

Nov 2024

National Broadband Plan: Transforming Connectivity Across Ireland

Independent evaluation confirms National Broadband Plan is delivering significant ...

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Jarleth Heneghan

Article and Insights

18

Jun 2024

DECC Launches Consultation on International Connectivity for Telecommunications

DECC launches consultation on International Connectivity for Telecommunications. W...

Consultant

Cassandra Byrne

Article and Insights

28

Feb 2024

Proposed FDI Screening Guidelines Published – What We Have Learnt

The draft guidance by the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment provides us...

Partner

Cormac Little SC

Article and Insights

27

Sep 2023

Changes to Competition Law Enforcement are Now Effective

Changes to the Competition Act 2002 have come into force after a long lead time. ...

Partner

Cormac Little SC

Announcement

3

Aug 2023

William Fry advises Ontario Teachers’ on its sale of Premier Lotteries Ireland

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has reached an agreement to sell its majority share...

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Ian Murray

Article and Insights

29

Mar 2023

New Circular to Assist SMEs in Public Procurement of Works, Goods and Services

The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform will shortly publish...

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Jarleth Heneghan

Article and Insights

13

Feb 2020

New European Electronic Communications Code Reforms Regulation for Telecoms Industry

From 21 December 2020, a revised EU telecoms regulatory framework will bring more ...

Partner

Claire Waterson

CSR

12

Jun 2019

William Fry’s Low Carbon Pledge

Partner

Claire Waterson

Article and Insights

21

Nov 2018

Data Protection Could Be a Second Bite at the Apple for EU Competition Regulators

Apple's acquisition of Shazam initially sparked competition concerns but during th...

Partner

Leo Moore