Catherine Piana, Director General of CoESS, highly welcomes this important step: “In order to be effective and credible, CoESS must aim at the widest possible representation of the industry. There still are a few countries in Europe, of which the association decides to focus on national matters or don’t have an association at all. The fact that Manguard Plus is joining is a first step towards a closer cooperation with Ireland, which we warmly welcome. Bill Brown has been active in the Social Dialogue and in standardisation activities at EU level for many years and I look forward to benefiting from his enthusiasm and expertise in those areas and, with Bill’s help, to demonstrate the added value of CoESS to the Irish stakeholders, businesses and associations alike.“

Manguard Plus is one of Ireland’s leading private security service providers, offering clients professional solutions to their security needs. With offices in Dublin, Kildare, Waterford, Derry, Belfast and London, the company manages security contracts throughout the length and breadth of Ireland and the UK to a diverse client base. Manguard Plus has an excellent reputation for providing a quality service, based on an extensive quality assurance policy.

In the context of a lack of association membership from Ireland, Bill Brown, Chairman of Manguard Plus, is glad to have the opportunity to join CoESS as the first business under the status of “company member”: “We have been at the forefront of the national strategic and structured improvements in pay, training and standards in this industry since 1999, but have always understood the importance of the European dimension and have been active supporters of CoESS, through the Irish national association, since 2005 and we will continue that support through our company”.