Ireland's McCann FitzGerald has appointed the head of its corporate finance group in Dublin, Barry Devereux, as chairman of the firm.

Devereux will replace John Cronin, formerly chairman for seven years, who has been appointed to the role of banking and financial services partner in the firm's Dublin office.

Both men will start their new roles on 1 May.

Devereux has particular expertise in flotations of state-owned companies, advising the underwriters on the Eircom (1999) and Aer Lingus (2006) initial public offers (IPOs). He joined McCann FitzGerald in 1998 as a partner and prior to that he spent ten years at Clifford Chance.

Cronin trained as a solicitor at McCann FitzGerald before joining Freshfields in London. He rejoined McCann FitzGerald as a partner in its London office in 1991 before returning to the Dublin office in 2002 where he worked in the firm's banking and financial services group.

In 2014, McCann FitzGerald advised Bord Gais Eireann on the sale of its energy business for €1.1bn (£878.5m). It was also appointed by the Electricity Supply Board to advise on its fibre broadband joint venture with Vodafone Ireland in October 2014.

The country's public sector infrastructure work has grown as Ireland's economy has begun recovering from the impact of the financial crisis.

McCann FitzGerald has also recently expanded its staff, hiring 50 staff – from partners to trainees – during late 2013 and 2014, Cronin said in an interview with Legal Week in November.