ISEA Business Awards 12.06
Tom McGrath Awarded the 2006 Business Association Annual Award.
On the 1st December, Tom McGrath & Associates was awarded the Ireland Spain Economic Association Annual Award, traditionally presented at the Association’s Annual Dinner to the company believed to have made a significant contribution to the trade links between Ireland and Spain. Tom McGrath is Principal of the Dublin based firm of solicitors Tom McGrath & Associates. Educated at Rockwell College, Co Tipperary and later at UCD and the incorporated Law Society, he was a partner in a number of large law firms in Dublin before establishing his own legal practice in 2001. He met his wife Asun, from Bilbao, while he was still at school when she came to Ireland as a student to learn English and they have two children Eric and Cristina, both studying at UCD.
A fluent Spanish speaker and keen enthusiast of all Hispanic related matters, he is a former President of the Ireland Spain Economic Association (ISEA) and continues to be an active member of its council. Tom spent most of his career both in the Four Courts and in many of the Circuit and District courts around the country practicing as a litigation solicitor before deciding to capitalise on his Spanish links to establish a niche service for clients wishing to buy property in Spain in 2001. He has extended the service to other parts of the world and now he and his network of overseas associates – he now has some 20 associate offices in Spain alone - work together to safeguard the interests of clients wishing to invest in property overseas, ensuring that developers own the land they propose to build on; that they have licenses; that planning permission is complied with and that money paid is secured by bank guarantees. They also act on behalf of the client, ensuring that they do not need to travel overseas.
Through his associate network, Tom has also establishe links with key reputable developers and estate agents both at home and abroad. The specialised service that he provides has been extended to help investors also in UK, Portugal, Madeira Island, Cape Verde Islands, France, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Morocco, Montenegro, Italy, Florida, Mexico, Panama, Brazil and Dominican Republic.
On legal matters relating to overseas properties Tom has written numerous articles for Irish and UK magazines and newspapers; appeared on radio and has lectured at the Law
Society of Ireland both to solicitors and trainee solicitors, and at various property seminars. His appointment as a Notary Public last year has allowed him to authenticate documents for use in foreign jurisdictions thus saving the clients from having to travel overseas to sign documents. In 2006 Tom McGrath and Associates were asked by a number of large reputable estate agents to service their clients and participate in seminars with them to support their exhibitions, an invitation Tom was happy to accept as he believes that the service his firm provides is of great benefit to the investor and holiday home buyer abroad. Tom McGrath and Associates has also recently been asked to provide the legal information for the various countries featured in the overseas property program on TV3.
visit the Ireland Spain Economic Association: www.isea.ie