EY Ireland has appointed healthcare technology specialist Alastair Allen and tax adviser Shannon Cunningham as equity partners in its Northern Ireland practice, among 12 new equity partners named across the island of Ireland, deepening the firm's regional leadership bench just as it pushes ahead with a five-year plan to add around 1,000 Northern Ireland roles. Partner remuneration terms were not disclosed, as is standard practice for such appointments.  

EY Ireland is the island-wide arm of the global EY network, employing more than 5,460 people across offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Derry/Londonderry, and reporting revenues of 843 million euros for the financial year to June 2025.

Alastair Allen sits within EY's consultancy practice as a healthcare technology specialist, leading digital and technology-enabled transformation work across the healthcare sector. Shannon Cunningham joins as a tax partner with over 13 years advising on tax structuring, reorganisations and transaction tax for private equity and public company clients.

The appointments extend a sustained, multi-year build-out of EY's Northern Ireland business rather than a one-off promotion round. The firm now counts 157 equity partners across the island, following a pattern of expanding its senior bench each time it posts record financial results.

That pattern is backed by scale. EY Ireland reported revenue of 843 million euros for the year to June 2025, up 9.3 percent, making it the largest and fastest-growing professional services firm on the island of Ireland, with headcount rising to 5,460 across seven offices after opening a seventh location in Derry/Londonderry in May 2025.

For Northern Ireland specifically, the timing matters. EY has separately committed to around 1,000 additional Northern Ireland roles over five years, and the promotion of two Belfast-based partners signals that regional leadership capacity is being built ahead of, not behind, that hiring curve.

For clients, the appointments add senior capacity in two growth areas, healthcare technology transformation and private equity-linked tax advisory, both flagged by the firm as priority areas alongside AI, technology and M&A.

For Ireland's accountancy market, the appointments reinforce EY's position as the dominant Big Four player on the island, raising the bar for rivals competing for the same client demand and specialist talent pool in Belfast and beyond.

Source: Belfast News Letter / The Irish Times / The Irish News