The Department for the Economy today announced one reappointment and extensions to the terms of office of a number of board members of public bodies sponsored by the Department.
Certification Officer
Sarah Havlin has been reappointed as Certification Officer from 15 June 2017 until 14 June 2022.
Invest Northern Ireland
The tenures of Brian Baird, Padraig Canavan and Judith Totten have been further extended by five months from 1 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.
Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
The tenure of Maurice Johnston, Chair, has been extended by five months from 1 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.
The tenures of Christopher Corken, Siobhan Hassard, David Henry, Derek Martin and Jackie Pollock have been further extended by five months from 1 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.
Stranmillis University College
The tenure of Professor Sir Desmond Rea, Chair was extended by four months from 12 May 2017 to 12 September 2017 and has been further extended until 31 December 2017. The tenures of Ken Nelson and Robert Thompson have been further extended by five months from 1 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.
NI Screen
The tenure of Dame Rotha Johnston, Chair, has been extended by seven months from 1 June 2017 to 31 December 2017. The tenures of Tim McKane and James Penny have been further extended by six months from 1 July 2017 until 31 December 2017.
Tourism NI
The tenures of Angelina Fusco and Terry McCartney have been extended by four months from 1 July 2017 to 31 October 2017.
South Eastern Regional College
The tenure of Gareth Hetherington has been further extended by four months from 1 September 2017 until 31 December 2017.
The extensions were made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
Notes to editors:
1. The Certification Officer for Northern Ireland is a regulated post appointed under Article 69 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 by the Minister for the Economy, in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s (CPANI) Code of Practice. Functions include maintaining lists of trade unions and employers’ associations, certifying the independence of unions, ensuring that proper accounting records are kept and annual returns are made, overseeing mergers, investigating the financial affairs of unions and employers’ associations and approving political fund rules of Northern Ireland- based unions. Remuneration is £20,726 per annum with a workload of 2 hours per week.
2. CITB NI is the only remaining statutory training board in Northern Ireland. Its purpose is to encourage the training of those employed or intending to be employed in the Northern Ireland construction industry. Members are remunerated at the rate of £144 per day for over four hours (£74 for less than 4 hours) attended. The Chair is remunerated at £18,662 per annum.
3. Invest Northern Ireland was established under the Industrial Development Act (Northern Ireland) 2002, and its role is to promote innovation, enterprise and competitiveness in Northern Ireland businesses, encourage new start-ups and market Northern Ireland as a location for inward investment. Board member remuneration is currently £12,115 per annum.
4. Stranmillis University College was founded in 1922 by the then recently established Ministry of Education for Northern Ireland to provide state-funded teacher training alongside that already available at the existing St Mary’s College. Both institutions have become academically recognised as university colleges of Queen’s University Belfast. Stranmillis offers teacher training for the primary and secondary school sectors as well as professional development courses, a BA in Early Childhood Studies and a BSc in Health and Leisure. Governing Body posts attract no remuneration but members can receive reasonable travel and subsistence payments for attending meetings.
5. The Northern Ireland Screen Commission (trading as Northern Ireland Screen) was established in 1997 to accelerate the development of a dynamic and sustainable film industry and culture in Northern Ireland. Limited by Guarantee, Northern Ireland Screen is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which was formerly a Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) sponsored body. On 9 May 2016 Northern Ireland Screen transferred to DfE as part of the restructuring of government departments and DfE is now the sponsoring department for Northern Ireland Screen. Northern Ireland Screen Board Members posts are unpaid; Members receive travel and subsistence allowances only. The Chair is remunerated at £10,100 per annum.
6. Tourism Northern Ireland is a statutory NDPB established under the Development of Tourist Traffic Act (NI) 1948. Its constitution and continuation were affirmed in the Tourism (NI) Order 1992. Tourism Northern Ireland is funded by DETI under Article 7 of the Order, from monies voted by Parliament. Tourism Northern Ireland is the trading name of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Membership of the Board of Tourism Northern Ireland carries a remuneration of £5,150 per annum.
7. The governing body of South Eastern Regional College is responsible for securing the efficient and effective management of the college, the provision of suitable further education to its students and determining the college’s strategic direction. In sustaining and developing its services, the governing body takes into account the educational needs of the business sector and the local community. The post of member of a college governing body is remunerated at £250 for a Governing Body meeting and £150 for a committee meeting or event sanctioned by the Chair. Travelling and subsistence allowances are also payable at Northern Ireland Civil Service rates.
8. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. The reappointee and all extendees have declared no political activity.
9. Pen Pictures
Certification Officer
Sarah Havlin
Sarah is a solicitor by profession. Following a career in private commercial practice, she moved into the areas of regulation, public policy, formal investigative work and quasi-judicial adjudication processes. She has previously overseen the Review of Local Government of Northern Ireland and several formal reviews of terms and conditions of pay across a variety of sectors including Agriculture, Health and Local Government. Whilst working part time as Certification Officer, she also serves as a Parades Commissioner for Northern Ireland, under appointment by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, an Independent Board Member of the Youth Justice Agency, under appointment by the Minister for Justice and is a legal member of RQIA, (remuneration £5,962 per annum) the Regulator of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland. In addition to being a qualified and experienced solicitor, she holds professional qualifications in Investigative Practice from The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, in Policy Development from Boston College and in Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Invest Northern Ireland
Brian Baird
Brian is currently Chairman of a Northern Ireland based content product company and non-executive director at 2 other technology product companies. He has had experience of being a Board member for a number of local technology companies as well as having established his own successful content product company in 2001 which he subsequently sold. This was after having an extensive career with ICL in a number of senior positions. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Padraig Canavan
Padraig founded, ran and sold the international software house Singularity which was quartered in Derry with offices in Belfast, London, Hyderabad, New York and Singapore. He owns Scattr & Canavan Software and chairs Hunter Apparel Solutions (Derry), independent software vendors Flowforma (Dublin) & LitheIT(Glasgow) and U4D, a lobby group seeking the expansion of Ulster University's Magee Campus. He also sits on the boards of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce (where he is a past president), St Mary's College (non-remunerated), the North West Regional College (remuneration £250 per Governing Body meeting and £150 per Committee meeting) and the Verbal Arts Centre. He is an active investor with the Halo Acorn Angels group.
Judith Totten
Judith is currently Managing Director of Upstream Working Capital Ltd (formerly Keys Commercial Finance Ltd,) a company she established in 2011, as an independent provider of working capital funding, trade and supply chain funding and credit management support to businesses across Northern Ireland. She has had a lengthy career in banking, starting as Sales Manager within the Invoice Finance function of Northern Bank Ltd and then Bank of Ireland for a short period, before returning to the Northern Bank and progressing latterly to setting up a new bank business acquisition team for the Bank. Judith is involved in mentoring and advising small businesses locally. She is actively involved in the Angel investment network in Northern Ireland and currently chairs the Economic Affairs Committee for the CBI in NI. She does not hold any other public appointments.
Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
Maurice Johnston
Maurice is currently Architect/Director for Bryson Architects Ltd in Belfast. A member of both the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, Maurice has worked for Bryson Architects Ltd since 1997 holding Director position since 2004. In his current position Maurice oversees private and public sector construction projects ranging from thousands to millions of pounds, having sound commercial knowledge. His role as Director involves company development including personnel, finance and commercial management.
Maurice has been a practicing Architect since the early 1990's with substantial experience in the construction industry, across both the private and public sectors, and from domestic to multi-million pound projects. A specialist recruited member on the Board of the Irish Football Association since 2012 for a £40M national stadium development until its completion in 2016 and on the associated NI Government partnered National Football Stadium Project Board. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Christopher Corken
Christopher has been working for Belfast Metropolitan College since 2003 and is currently Curriculum Area Manager for Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from The Open University, is Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and registered with the Engineering Council UK as Incorporated Engineer. Prior to his role at Belfast Met, he has 12 years’ experience in the Electrical Building Services sector on commercial and industrial projects across the UK and Ireland ranging from retail outlets to power stations. Christopher develops and implements strategies to develop an economically relevant and innovative curriculum in engineering, renewable energy and building services, providing technical support and guidance to local SMEs through the Department for the Economy and Invest Northern Ireland programmes such as Assured Skills, Academies and Collaborative Networks. Chris was also part of a Curriculum Development Strategy Team working with the Department of Employment and Learning to develop and implement the new Youth Training and Apprenticeship strategies for Northern Ireland. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Siobhan Hassard
Siobhan has over 30 years’ experience in staff training and development. She started her career in retail management focusing specifically on staff training and for the past 12 years Siobhan has been employed by McCormack Demolition as Administration Manager. Siobhan’s current role involves office management, recruitment and staff training and development. Siobhan also undertakes PA duties to Company Directors and has responsibility for payroll and office administration. Siobhan’s current role allowed her to become involved in the NI Demolition Association (NIDA) and she co-ordinated a series of demolition specific training events on behalf of eight member companies. Siobhan does not hold any other public appointments.
David Henry
David has been Managing Director of Henry Brothers Ltd. since 2000 having previously held the post of Contracts Director.
David has overall responsibility for strategy, growth and profitability together with review of capital expenditure and budgets.
David firmly believes that training and development of personnel are key factors to company progression and expansion. His own commitment to development has included achieving Fellowship status of the CIOB and gaining the Institute of Directors Certificate in Company Direction.
He is the current President of the Northern Ireland Construction Employers Federation, and a member of the CBI Council.
David currently serves on Rainey Endowed School Board of Governors (travel expenses only) and is the current chairman of the Property and Development sub Committee. A member of the Executive Committee reporting directly to the Board of Governors on all aspects relating to Property and Development within the school.
Derek Martin
Mr Martin is a former Director and Managing Director of H&J Martin Ltd. He is a graduate in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast, a Chartered Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, a Fellow of the Institute of Building and a member of the Institute of Directors. Mr Martin was a member of the Construction Employers Federation Council for many years and is a Past President. Appointed to the Board of CITB in 2012, he holds two other public appointments, Chair of HSENI, (remuneration £19,245 per annum) and is currently chair of the CITB Board’s Audit and Risk Committee and he has recently being appointed as one of two Independent Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee (remuneration £337 per day).
Jackie Pollock
Jackie has taken up the role of Deputy Regional Secretary of Unite for the Ireland region and has been in this role since early 2015. Prior to that Jackie was a senior official for the union for over a decade and has worked as a full time workers representative since 1996. Jackie’s background is in construction and shipbuilding, a time served plumber he started his working life on construction sites and later joined Harland and Wolff as a plumber/welder for over 16 years.
Jackie, as a leading figure in the Irish trade union movement, has served as chair of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions since 2013. Jackie has been a CITB NI Board Member since 2014. Throughout his time as a workers representative Jackie has continuously pushed to improve the conditions of all workers but young workers and apprentices in particular, Jackie sits on the board of the Engineering Training Council and the Joint Industry Board and has played an integral role in pioneering new approaches for preserving the construction trades such as ‘SparkSafe’ and other initiatives.
Jackie is also a Director in the Greater Shankill Partnership through his intensive community and voluntary involvement. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Stranmillis University College
Professor Sir Desmond Rea, OBE MSc (ECON) MBA PHD
Sir Desmond’s experience as a Non-Executive Director includes United Dairy Farmers, AIB Group (UK) Plc, Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd., which he also chaired. He is a former Chair of four education bodies, Northern Ireland Schools Examinations and Assessment Council, NI Schools Examinations Council, CCEA and Methodist College.
In the Public Sector, he was a former Chair of the NI Policing Board, the Labour Relations Agency and the Local Government Staff Commission. At present he is a Non-Executive Director (representing Northern Ireland) on the Security Industry Authority, in which capacity he chairs the latter’s HR and Remuneration Committee. He acts as consultant and adviser to private sector clients on economic, business and development issues. He edited First Trust Bank’s quarterly Economic Outlook and Business Review for over 25 years. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Ken Nelson
Ken has extensive involvement in economic development and entrepreneurship as chief executive of Local Economic Development Company (LEDCOM) Ltd.
Ken has over 25 years’ experience working as a business advisor, mentor and trainer with entrepreneurs, start-up companies, small businesses and social enterprises. In 2010 he was the sole Northern Ireland recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. Ken is a voluntary member of the board of directors of three social enterprises. He has a BA in Business Studies, MBA and MSc in Human Resource Management as well as being a Chartered Manager (CMgr) and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI).
Ken is a member of the board of Governors of the Northern Regional College (remuneration £250 for a Governing Body meeting and £150 for a committee meeting or event sanctioned by the Chair), and Stranmillis University College (non-remunerated, travel & subsistence expenses only). He has been a member of the Board of Invest Northern Ireland since 2012 (remuneration currently £12,115 per annum) and in December 2016, he was appointed as Chairman of InterTradeIreland by the North South Ministerial Council.
Robert Thompson
Mr Thompson, a former student of Stranmillis, served the last 32 years of his professional career as Principal of Doagh Primary School. He is Chair of a local primary school and Governor of two large post-primary schools, in one of which, he is Chair of the Finance Committee. He has been a member of the North Eastern Education & Library Board (travel expenses only). Mr Thompson is a Council Member of the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) (travel expenses only) and an External Adviser for Headteachers' PRSD (Performance Review and Staff Development).
NI Screen
Dame Rotha Johnston DBE
Rotha Johnston took up her post as Chairwoman in June 2013. A Queen’s University graduate, Ms Johnston has had a career in the textile, the economic development and the food sectors. She currently has various investment interests primarily in the property sector.
In addition, Rotha holds a number of non-executive positions including Director of Northern Ireland Electricity, Belfast Harbour Commissioners (remuneration £10,150 per annum) and independent Board Member of the Department of Justice. Rotha is also a Pro Chancellor at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Previously she was a shareholder and director of Variety Foods Ltd, a food service company supplying the Irish market; Head of Marketing in Moygashel Textiles, part of Lamont Holdings and Business Development Director, LEDU.
Ms Johnston was also a BBC Trustee, member of the Northern Ireland Economic Council, Deputy Chair of Invest Northern Ireland and a member of the Northern Ireland Council of the Prince’s Trust.
In 2006 she was awarded the CBE in recognition of her contribution to industry in Northern Ireland and in 2016 was made a Dame.
Tim McKane
Tim McKane runs Navajo Talk, one of Northern Ireland’s leading digital marketing agencies. He has been involved in marketing and advertising for over thirty years, and has chaired the Publicity Association of Northern Ireland and the NI Branch of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. He currently sits on the Board of the Nomadic Trading Company. Mr McKane has been a Board Member of Northern Ireland Screen since 1 January 2008. He does not hold any other public appointments.
James Penny
James is Commercial Director of Mammoth Screen Limited. He was previously an independent adviser to several television production companies and, before that, Head of Business Affairs (Drama) at ITV Studios. James has been a Board Member of Northern Ireland Screen since 1 January 2008 and sits on the Investment Committee, the Strategic Resources Committee and has previously chaired the Finance and Audit Committee. He does not hold any other public appointments.
Tourism NI
Angelina Fusco
Angelina is the MD of Angelina Fusco Training and Consultancy since September 2013. It is a sole trader business helping individuals and organisations share their stories and messages effectively across all traditional and digital media platforms. She has a particular interest in Journalism & Trauma having been an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Centre, Columbia University in 2012. She works as an associate trainer for Belfast based Channel56.
She was a journalist in BBC Northern Ireland for more than thirty years holding a variety of roles including regional journalist, radio producer and Editor of Newsgathering. From 1998 to 2013 Angelina was Editor of the local television news brand, BBC Newsline, providing coverage of all breaking news stories and live programmes on special events. She played a lead role in the introduction of new digital technologies and social media to the Belfast newsroom. She was a reporter in the Irish News 1979-1982
Angelina is also a member of the NI Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund and a member of St Anne's Parish Pastoral Council. She does not hold any other public appointments.
Terry McCartney
Terry McCartney is the owner and manager of the award winning Belmore Court & Motel in Enniskillen and is responsible for the day to day leadership and management of the 60-bedroom, four star guest accommodation.
He was a lecturer in Hospitality and Computers at the South West College in Fermanagh and prior to that he held positions as a Field Sales Executive for Finlay Hydrascreens and Promotion and Sales Executive for Dillon Bass.
In 2011, Terry held the position of Sheriff of County Fermanagh. He is also a rugby referee and an amateur photographer. He does not hold any other public appointments.
South Eastern Regional College
Gareth Hetherington
Gareth is a qualified accountant and member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. He worked in economics and public policy for over 20 years and is an Associate Director in the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre. He does not hold any other public appointments.
10. All media enquiries should be directed to the Department for the Economy Press Office on 028 9052 9604. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974 383 and your call will be returned.
11. Follow us on Twitter @Economy NI