01 / Experience
30+
Years of expertise
Legal practice, academic leadership and international advisory work.
About / Our people / Dermot Cahill
Legal thinking · Research impact · Reform
Dermot
Cahill.
Policy and Research Director, HelpUsTrade
Turning rigorous legal and procurement research into practical reform — helping governments, institutions and businesses make public markets work better.
Ireland · International
Research into real-world change
Four milestones in a career connecting evidence, policy and practical reform.
02 / Policy reform
16
Recommendations adopted
Welsh procurement-barriers research informing government policy.
03 / Research at scale
€3.7m
Research programme
Winning in Tendering, supporting SMEs' access to public contracts.
04 / Research impact
3
ESRC impact grants
Helping research findings shape procurement policy and practice.
Selected professional achievements and programmes involving Dermot. Programme funding is not personal funding.
The person behind the work
Evidence first.
Change that lasts.
Professor Dermot Cahill combines a career in European law and university leadership with practical procurement reform and governance advisory work.
As a Director of HelpUsTrade, Dermot brings legal analysis, research methods and institutional insight to assignments for governments, development banks and public bodies. His work connects procurement law with the people and processes responsible for making it effective.
His professional experience includes leadership roles at Bangor University and University College Dublin, research programmes to improve SME access to public contracts, and advisory work in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
Research should do more than explain how public systems work. It should help improve how they work.
Editorial summary of professional approach
Where Dermot adds value
Law, evidence
and implementation.
Distinctive expertise across procurement systems, public governance and the intersection of legal research and institutional change.
01 / Law
EU law & procurement
Internal market rules, procurement compliance, tender procedures and legal reform.
02 / Governance
Public procurement reform
Strengthening fairness, transparency, value for money and institutional processes.
03 / Research
Evidence & policy impact
Applied research, impact studies and policy recommendations grounded in evidence.
04 / Capability
Professionalisation
Training curricula, assessment methods, public-sector skills and institutional learning.
05 / Markets
SME competitiveness
Practical approaches to lowering tendering barriers and supporting cross-border participation.
06 / Transformation
Digital public services
eProcurement, digital governance, e-invoicing and evidence-led modernisation.
Selected assignments
The work behind
the perspective.
Eight examples drawn from Dermot’s CV, combining HelpUsTrade commissions, international advisory assignments and research programmes. Dates and roles reflect the supplied CV.
Rwanda · Maldives · International Select an assignment
Selected EIB commissions
Healthcare procurement · 2022–2024+
Strengthening healthcare procurement
Leadership of specialist procurement advisory teams on EIB-supported health investment programmes in Rwanda and the Maldives, examining procurement approaches, compliance, evaluation and institutional capability.
Explore related work
01 / 08
All 28 portfolio references can be explored through the HelpUsTrade project index. Discover the wider portfolio ↗
The journey
From legal scholarship
to policy impact.
A selected professional journey — from legal practice and academic leadership to procurement reform across international institutions.
2019 — Present in 2024 CV
Director · HelpUsTrade
Leading governance and procurement competitiveness work, including EIB advisory assignments in Rwanda, Maldives and Serbia; procurement capacity-building in Namibia; and performance management support in Barbados. The CV also describes earlier involvement with HelpUsTrade from 2013.
2007 — 2019
Head of Law School · Bangor University
Senior academic leadership and teaching alongside research programmes addressing public procurement, SME access to opportunities and EU internal market policy. Held professorial chairs and procurement research leadership roles.
1993 — 2007
Academic career · University College Dublin
Progressed from Assistant Lecturer through Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, building expertise in European law and academic research.
1990 — 1993
Legal practice and European institutions
Worked in Irish legal practice and served as a national legal expert with the College of Europe / European Commission, following formal legal education and professional qualification.
Education & professional standing
Legal foundations.
International outlook.
Professional qualifications, European legal studies and extensive academic leadership underpin Dermot’s practical advisory work. The public profile highlights selected credentials rather than reproducing his full academic CV.
- English · Native
- Irish · Native
- French · Advanced
Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL)
University College Cork
1988
Master of Laws (LLM, Research)
University College Cork
1991
Diplôme in Advanced European Legal Studies
College of Europe, Bruges
1992
Solicitor · Ireland
Admitted to the Roll of Solicitors
1992
Accredited Mediator
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London
2007
Academic publications & editorships
Research in procurement, EU law, competition law and market governance, including peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.
Selected
Research & influence
Ideas with
public impact.
Dermot’s research has examined practical barriers to fair, competitive public procurement and contributed to policy debate, training design and SME market access.
Welsh procurement
Research informing reform
Co-authored research for the Welsh Government on barriers facing SMEs, with recommendations adopted into procurement policy and practice.
International scholarship
Publishing and teaching
Publications include work on public procurement litigation, tender feedback, competition law and cross-border procurement, alongside visiting academic appointments.
Programme design
Learning that travels
Research-led programmes including Winning in Tendering, PPACT and TESLA developed methods for improving SME access, competition and collaboration.
Let's work together
Better systems start
with better questions.
For procurement policy, legal analysis, institutional capability or international advisory work, connect with Professor Cahill and the HelpUsTrade team.