Our People

Expertise

Peter is a Partner in the Projects/Public Procurement and Technology/Telecommunications Groups. He has over 12 years experience as a commercial lawyer, both working in-house as Senior Legal Counsel to Vodafone (for over five years) and in private practice with Arthur Cox in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Peter advises public and private sector clients on the public procurement, contractual, regulatory and competition law aspects of projects in a range of sectors, including waste, health, social infrastructure, energy, transport, technology and communications. He counts among his clients some of the leading players in these sectors, as well as a variety of Government Departments and other public sector bodies in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI).

Peter regularly advises awarding authorities, funders and bidders on public tendering procedures - procurement strategy, tender documentation, evaluation methodology and compliance with the Public Sector and Utilities Procurement Directives and associated Regulations in NI and ROI. He is currently advising awarding authorities on some of the most significant and complex projects ever to be procured in Northern Ireland. He also has a strong track record of successfully challenging and defending procurement decisions through the courts.

Experience

Peter has extensive experience of drafting and negotiating a wide variety of commercial contracts, particularly in the areas of technology, communications and waste. He regularly advises on project agreements (PPP), OGC model contracts for services and goods, outsourcing agreements, agreements for the sale, purchase and licensing of software, hardware and IT systems and related support and maintenance. In the communications area, he has advised leading operators for many years on agreements relating to the roll out, management and leasing of mobile and fibre communications networks, IRU, national and international roaming, interconnect, directory services, call centres, network sharing, content licensing, m-commerce and e-commerce. He has significant experience in handling the IT and communications aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other major corporate transactions, as well as advising on regulatory issues in the mobile communications, food and health insurance sectors.

Recent Track Record

Projects/Procurement

• Lead advisor to Western Education & Library Board on the procurement of next generation ICT systems and services for all primary and secondary schools in Northern Ireland (C2K Project)
• Advising arc21 (a joint committee of 11 local councils) on all aspects of its procurement of residual waste treatment facilities (mechanical biological treatment and Energy from Waste)  – one of the largest PPP projects ever to be undertaken in Northern Ireland – and on a variety of other procurement matters
• Lead advisor to SWaMP2008 (a joint committee of 8 local councils) on all aspects of its (PPP) procurement of residual waste treatment facilities in Northern Ireland
• Lead advisor to the Strategic Investment Board (NI) on the procurement and development of a shared educational campus for six schools at Lisanelly, Omagh, County Tyrone
• Lead advisor to the Abacus Housing Association Consortium (8 housing associations) on the procurement of various framework agreements relating to the roll-out of the NI Social Housing Development Programme
• Advising Driver & Vehicle Agency (an agency of the Dept. of Environment (NI)) on the review of a PFI contract relating to vehicle testing facilities in Northern Ireland
• Lead advisor to the Department of Social Development/Social Security Agency  on the outsourcing of medical services to support the social security system in Northern Ireland
• Lead advisor to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (NI) and Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources (ROI) on their joint procurement of submarine and terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure to service the north-west of the island of Ireland (Project Kelvin)
• Advised Department of Communications, Marine (now Energy) and Natural Resources (ROI) on the procurement of the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) programme establishing local broadband infrastructure throughout Ireland and selecting a Management Services Entity on a PPP/PFI basis
• Lead advisor to Sport Northern Ireland (governing body for sports development in NI) on the roll-out of its Elite Facilities and Investing in Performance Programmes and on related procurement and governance issues
• Lead advisor to the National Cancer Screening Services Board on the procurement of cervical smear testing and cytology laboratory services
• Lead advisor to Strathearn School on the successful defence of a challenge to its procurement of new school facilities
• Successfully representing a broad range of awarding authorities and aggrieved tenderers on various challenges to public procurement procedures

Technology/Communications

• Lead advisor to Western Education & Library Board on the procurement of next generation ICT systems and services for all primary and secondary schools in Northern Ireland (C2K Project)
• Lead advisor to Mobitel Slovenia, Slovenia’s leading mobile telecommunications operator, on its successful challenge to the decision by the national regulatory authority in Slovenia (APEK) to designate it with another mobile operator with joint dominance in the mobile market, including representing Mobitel before the European Commission.  Also advised Mobitel on a subsequent decision to designate the operator with being singly dominant in the mobile market
• Lead advisor to eircom UK on contractual arrangements with Northgate, supplier of ICT services to Viridian Group
• Advised Vodafone Ireland on its acquisition of the residential and SME broadband and fixed line business of BT Ireland and its acquisition of Perlico Communications
• Advised Vodafone Ireland in its successful appeal to the Electronic Communications Appeals Panel of decisions by the national regulatory to designate Vodafone and O2 with joint dominance in the mobile market in Ireland and impose various network access remedies
• Advised Dublin Airport Authority on the procurement of mobile communications services at Dublin, Shannon and Cork Airports and associated regulatory issues.
• Advising Vodafone Ireland and Vodafone Group on a range of matters since 1998 (as in-house counsel and as external adviser) including advising on:  interconnection, directory services, national roaming agreements, international roaming, various fibre licensing and management agreements, all aspects of the procurement of IT, billing and communications systems, licensing of mobile content, brand management, sponsorship agreements, m-commerce, e-commerce, data protection, consumer law and a range of regulatory and competition law issues and disputes.  Peter also led the in-house team for Eircell (now Vodafone Ireland) in the course of its acquisition by Vodafone Group
• Advising various other entities in relation to a range of public procurement, IT, communications and regulatory law matters, including, Abbey Theatre, Bord Gáis Éireann, Dublin City University, Dublin Airport Authority, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Fáilte Ireland, Farrans, Fold Housing Association, Food Safety Authority, Google, .ie Domain Registry, MacMillan Media, Rail Procurement Agency, Treasury Holdings, University College Dublin and Virgin Media