NI Skills Council - Chair and four members pen pics

Chair

Kathleen O’Hare

Kathleen O’Hare is from Newry. She has extensive involvement in education and skills. From 2002 - 2018 she was Headteacher of two large post primary schools - St Cecilia’s in Londonderry and Hazelwood Integrated College in North Belfast. During this time, she was recognised for her services and awarded, UK Headteacher of the Year, Blackboard Headteacher of the Year, Freeman of the City of London and made a Fellow of the International Peace School in Messines. She has a BA in History and an MA in History and Politics, as well as a Professional Qualification in Headship (PQH).

Kathleen is the current Vice-Chair of Council for Curriculum, Examination and Assessment CCEA (unremunerated post). She also contributed to the Northern Ireland Curriculum by providing resources and teacher training for the Common Curriculum. Mrs O’Hare is a former member of Senate at QUB and currently serves on the Board of Belfast Metropolitan College where she is Vice-Chair and chairs the Curriculum, Quality and Engagement Committee (remuneration £250 for a Governing Body meeting and £150 for a committee meeting or event sanctioned by the Chair).

Since her retirement as a college principal, she has continued her services to education by working on international leadership and action research projects in Taiwan, Brazil, Middle East, and North Africa Region for the British Council. She is a recent member of the Department of Education Expert Panel on educational underachievement, Fair Start and is also a panel member of the Teachers Regulation Agency in England and Wales.

Mrs O’Hare is a Voluntary Director of the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and serves on the Board of Governors of Newbridge Integrated College. She is also Vice-Chair of Newry Cathedral Parish Pastoral Council and a Director of the Parish Conference Centre.

Members

Mary Meehan

Mary Meehan leads Meehan Associates, advising companies across Ireland, the UK and internationally on strategy, skills, innovation, cluster development, international trade and supply-chain management. She also serves on the board of Manufacturing NI, having previously held the role of Deputy Chief Executive.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience, Mary has a diverse skill set encompassing business strategy, workforce development, diversity and inclusion, international trade, cluster development and innovation support. She works closely with businesses and industry partners to build capability, strengthen collaboration and support sustainable growth.

Mary is committed to helping businesses develop the skills and talent needed to remain competitive. She has extensive experience connecting employers, education providers and industry partners to address skills gaps, improve career pathways and create opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds. Her work focuses on building a strong, inclusive talent pipeline and ensuring that skills development responds to the evolving needs of industry.

Mary holds a Master of Business Administration and a BA (Hons) in International Business Communication from Ulster University.

Annie Millar

Annie is founder and director of Infinity Professional Training & Development. She has over 30 years’ experience of working within Education, Training and Business environments.

Professional specialist areas of expertise include training and assessment of Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) programmes, the Apprenticeship NI initiative eg., Built Environment Construction, Advanced Engineering, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Business,Agri-foods, BT, NI Water, Uniformed/Emergency organisations,renewables, Continuous Improvement (Lean Manufacturing), Health and Safety, Human Factors for Emergency Services, Coaching and Mentoring and Career Guidance and Development.

She has a PGDip in Career Guidance and Counselling (QCG), BAHons in Business, Certificate in Teaching with Commendation (FE/HE), NEBOSH, Accredited Internal Quality Assurer, Diploma in Business Improvement Techniques as well as being a Member of the Institute of Safety and Health (Tech/IOSH) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). She has championed the provision of accredited, bespoke training and assessment solutions and services to a substantial number of SMEs, multi-internationals, and uniformed emergency organisations within Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, ROI and British Territories.

Caroline Van Der Feltz

Caroline is an experienced HR Director with over 25 years’ experience within the fields of Financial Services, FMCG, Travel and Retail sectors. Currently she is HR Director for Danske Bank UK where she leads the People Strategy as part of the Bank’s Executive Committee. She has spent the majority of her career in London and returned to NI in 2015.

Prior to taking up her current role she worked for a number of FTSE 100 companies including Reckitt Benckiser where she held a Global HR Director role, Executive HR Director at Coutts and had 11 years with RBS in a variety of HR roles.

Caroline is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Chairs the CBI Northern Ireland People and Skills Committee. She currently sits on the board of the Financial Services Skills and is a qualified Executive Coach (AOEC).

Lorna McAdoo

Lorna McAdoo is Group Director for Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) and Northern Ireland Lead at Version 1, where she has helped grow the regional team to over 550 people since joining in 2013. Version 1 is a leader in AI and digital transformation, partnering with global organisations to drive innovation responsibly. 

She is a passionate advocate for inclusive entry into tech, championing flexible working patterns, outreach to underrepresented groups, and alternative pathways such as apprenticeships and reskilling programs. Through initiatives like partnering with the DfE Assured Skills Academies, Lorna works to ensure technology careers are accessible to people from all backgrounds. 

Beyond her role at Version 1, Lorna serves as Vice-Chair of the Software NI, sits on the Northern Ireland Skills Council, and is the Institute of Directors Skills Ambassador. Her leadership in ESG earned her the Excellence in ESG Leadership Award at the Workplace Excellence Awards 2025.