Minister appoints new member to the governing body of South Eastern Regional College

1. SERC is one of the six further education colleges in Northern Ireland. Colleges are non-departmental public bodies of the Department for the Economy, which are established under the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The governing body of a further education 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 delivering college services, the governing body considers the educational needs of the business sector and the local community.

2. Mr Finnegan has been appointed from the reserve list of a public appointment competition held in 2024. He has gained significant leadership experience over the past 27 years of the statutory, voluntary and community sectors, working in the fields of disability, childcare, employment and education, youth, older people and bereavement.  He has been the Chief Executive of Lighthouse, the suicide prevention charity since 2020. Prior to Lighthouse, Paul was Director for Cruse in Northern Ireland for seven years. Additionally, from 2018 to 2024, on behalf of the Department of Health, he chaired the NI Independent Medical Examiner (IME) Sub-Group. A past student at Lisburn Institute, he has two Masters’ Degrees, one in Management and Organisation at QUB and one in Lifelong Learning at UU. He sits on the Department for Transport’s Disabled Persons Transport Accessibility Committee (DPTAC) at a rate of £275 per day.

3. The post of governing body member is remunerated at £250 for a governing body meeting and £150 for a committee meeting or event sanctioned by the Chair, plus travel and subsistence allowances which are payable at Northern Ireland Civil Service rates in respect of activities conducted whilst fulfilling their duties.

4. All appointments/reappointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Mr Finnegan has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

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