When it comes to the most gay-friendly places to work in Ireland, finance and technology companies are officially heading the charge.

GLEN (Gay & Lesbian Equality Network) have announced the best Irish workplaces for LGBT people to work in with professional services firm Ernst & Young topping the list.

This week saw the launch of Ireland’s first ever LGBT Workplace Equality Index Awards.

“We are delighted to recognise the companies and executives who are leading the way in making Irish workplaces fully inclusive of LGBT people” said Kieran Rose, GLEN Co-Chair.

“These companies and leaders are showing the real value that being an LGBT inclusive organisation brings to Irish workplaces and businesses. They are playing an integral role in creating a business culture in Ireland that values the skills, ideas and creativity that LGBT people bring to the workplace” said Rose.

Catherine Vaughan, Global Compliance Leader at EY said, “We are delighted to have won the Employer of the Year award. We see this as an opportunity to benchmark ourselves and reflect on all that we’ve learned to date. We will take this win as a platform from which to continue to improve, including looking at the other companies in the workplace equality index to learn from their good practices”.

The other companies that topped the list of best places to work for LGBT people were, in order: IBM, Accenture, Deutsche Bank and Microsoft. 

GLEN also announced the Workplace Equality Index – Leadership Award winners for their outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion.

The award for Senior Leader of the Year went to Margot Slattery, Country President of Sodexo Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Catherine Vaughan, Global Compliance Leader at Ernst & Young was awarded LGBT Inclusion Champion of the Year, while Mike McKerr, Country Managing Partner at the same company, was awarded the gong for Ally of the Year. 

Elsewhere in the ceremony, which was held at the Westin Hotel in Dublin and presided over by Miriam O’Callaghan, Ernst & Young picked up the LGBT Employee Network of the Year.

A Special Recognition Award was handed out to Trinity College Dublin for their trans inclusion efforts.