What's the lighthouse all about?

A few people have said they quite like the logo I use for my consultancy work as McLaughlin Forensic. I had a designer in Dubai create it for me based on images of the current lighthouse on Inishtrahull Island which is situated several miles off the coast of Malin Head, Co Donegal in Ireland.

That's the same Malin by the way which will be familiar to you early morning fans of the BBC's shipping forecast. Malin Head also happens to be Ireland's most northern point and is the geographical and northern opposite to Mizen Head at the southern end of the the island of Ireland.

A few months ago, the area was also under worldwide gaze as movie crews for the next Star Wars film descended on this remote and northern tip of Ireland. It will be interesting to see how it looks when the movie comes out.

But why Inishtrahull? Well it's where my own roots are firmly planted - my Dad was born there and his father and great grandfather were fishermen on the island. That was a highly dangerous occupation that would regularly visit tragedy on families.

My grandfather was drowned only a few months before my dad was born in 1917 and my great grandfather and one of his sons were drowned in the last years of the 19th Century. These things are stark reminders that today, we mostly live and work in pretty safe surroundings - not everyone of course, but certainly most of us in the developed world.

Yet only a generation or two before we may have been born, our own relatives may well have lived and worked in places where survival depended on good weather, good fishing or harvest and a calm political climate. Neither of these things would have applied to my grandfather and great grandfather's generations where memories of the Great War and the earlier Irish Famine were among the things that they and their families had to struggle through.

With the Great War or World War I raging in the early years of the 20th century, my grandfather skippered his boat, a traditional Drontheim to rescue the crew of a vessel the SS Tritonia which had hit a mine in 1914. The UK Admiralty often refused to publicise such sinkings for fear it would give vital intelligence to he enemy, so it was fortunate my grandad was able to muster his crew to set off in search of the casualties from the mined vessel. 

So, for me, the island and its lighthouse are powerful icons. The strapline I use for my anti-fraud consultancy McLaughlin Forensic - "illuminating fraud risk" takes the concept of the guiding light of the lighthouse and recasts it in a way that we can shine light on the sort of frauds and other misconduct that might have adverse impact on your organisation.

With many years of personal experience investigating and working on preventing fraud, I can assist you to identify risks you face. I can provide excellent tailored training (watch out for a forthcoming training course in Dubai this Autumn) and I can conduct investigations or guide and / or support your own team of  investigators. Cold case review as they call it is a particular interest for me. Are there things you may have missed or overlooked? Are there links you have not made in often large volumes of information?

With global experience including extended periods working in the Middle East and Far East and worldwide in my Big Four days, I also bring sound cultural and political awareness and offer great value for money.

If nothing else, I think you will enjoy having a conversation with me - who knows it might be one of the most useful conversations you have this year!! I'm business aware, politically savvy, and maintain a broad interest in fraud, corruption, business integrity and related matters. 

Want to connect? Send me an invitation on LinkedIn - I regularly post news and other items of interest - you won't get pics of dogs or cats or philosophical memes from me.

I look forward to illuminating you and your organisation about fraud and corruption.

Call me anytime on +44 7940 249890 or email me at danny(at)mclaughlinforensic.com