Tag: Northern Ireland Office

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 12 October 2023.

Notice of Determination by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to the Chair of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry under section 40(4) of the Inquiries Act 2005.

The press release issued by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 4 October 2023.

The Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP, has today announced the appointment of Mrs Elizabeth Armstrong, Mr Mark Spence, Miss Orla Sheils and Mrs Sarah Havlin as the new board members of the Labour Relations Agency. In the absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, these appointments have been made under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022.

The appointments are effective from 1 September 2023. The four new members will bring significant experience to the role, coupled with their understanding of employment relations issues and awareness of the importance of good practice.

Details of body

The LRA is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for the Economy, offering impartial advice to both employees and employers. It has responsibility for promoting the improvement of employment relations in Northern Ireland. It provides impartial and independent services for promoting good employment practices and preventing and resolving disputes. The LRA has its origin in the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1976. Its objectives are determined by a board consisting of a Chair and nine members.

Biographies of appointees

Mrs Elizabeth (Libby) Armstrong

Libby has extensive human resources experience in multi-union global and cross border organisations and previously held the positions of Director of Compensation and Benefits in Bombardier and Head of Human Resources in Waterways Ireland. She has worked across both the private and public sectors in senior HR leadership roles involving strategic and operational responsibilities and led employment relations in challenging operating environments. She holds an MA in Human Resource Management and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Libby currently serves as a Panel Member of the Industrial and Fair Employment Tribunals Northern Ireland (remuneration £200.72 per day as and when Hearings are scheduled) and has just recently been appointed to the Board of the Governing Body of South West College (remuneration £250 per Governing Body meeting).

Mr Mark Spence

Mark is the Chief Executive of the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) the representative body for construction. In this role he is the Employer Representative to the Joint Council for the Building and Civil Engineering Industry (Northern Ireland) where employee and employer representatives agree pay rate and working rules.

He is also Managing Director of Construction Industry Futures Limited, a company owned and operated jointly by CEF and the GMB and Unite Trades Unions with the purpose of addressing industry challenges and Managing Director of Construction Federation Services Limited, a company delivering safety and environmental accreditations specific to the construction industry.

Prior to joining the CEF, Mark had senior level experience in the local construction industry and 20 years’ senior experience in global consultancy firms advising government on infrastructure procurement.

Mark was appointed by the then Finance Minister to the Procurement Board in 2020 (no remuneration). He is Vice-Chair of Mallusk Enterprise Park and is a former Board Member of Arbour Housing Association (no remuneration). He is also a fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD), a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, a graduate of QUB and holds an MBA from Ulster University.

Mark is a trustee of his local scout group (no remuneration). Mark does not hold any public appointments.

Miss Orla Sheils

Orla is a solicitor qualified to practice in the jurisdictions of both Northern Ireland and England & Wales. Her legal career has involved her working in private practice, for the Employment Tribunal Service, a Trade Union and public inquiries. Specialising in employment law, she brings over 20 years’ experience advising various trade union and private clients to the role. She has issued high profile, high value, and complex cases before the Central Arbitration Committee, Employment Tribunals, Employment Appeal Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal. A significant number of these have been multi-claimant proceedings involving large sums of compensation awarded to her clients.

Orla does not hold any public appointments.

Mrs Sarah Havlin

Sarah is the Chairman of the Industrial Court of Northern Ireland. She is a solicitor by profession with an extensive background in employment law and relations, particularly in complex collective disputes. For ten years she was the Certification Officer of Northern Ireland, the statutory regulator of trade unions and employer associations with judicial functions. Sarah also holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the Central Arbitration Committee in London, which is the Industrial Court of Great Britain. She is also a former Chairman of the Agricultural Wages Board, a statutory collective bargaining authority setting terms and conditions of pay for agricultural workers, and has held several judicial and quasi-judicial roles including as a Parades Commissioner, the Boundary Commissioner and as a Legal Chairman of both the Exceptional Circumstances Tribunal for the Department of Education and the Independent Review of Decisions Panel for the Department of Agriculture. In 2022 she was retained by the Scottish Government to set up the Office of the Pubs Code Adjudicator for Scotland, a new regulatory and arbitration scheme to bring balance and fairness to the commercial relationship between Pub Owning Companies and Pub Tenants under Tied Leases.

Current Public Appointments – Boundary Commissioner for Northern Ireland, remunerated by daily rate of £505.50.

Terms Of Appointment

● Appointments will be for three years, commencing on 1 September 2023.

● Members are expected to attend approximately 10 meetings per year.

● Remuneration is £5,424 per annum and non pensionable.

Regulation

In the absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, these appointments were made under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022, and in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland (CPANI) Code of Practice.

Political Activity

All appointments 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 to be published. None of the appointees have declared any political activity in the last five years.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 22 September 2023.

English language students worldwide will learn about the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and its contribution to peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 19 September 2023.

Statement by Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, following Royal Assent of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act.

The press release issued by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 14 September 2023.

Secretary State for Northern Ireland confirms Peter Sheridan as Commissioner for Investigations designate of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The press release issued by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 12 September 2023.

After addressing the PEACE PLUS launch hosted by SEUPB at Newforge Sports Centre, the Secretary of State visited Youth Action NI in Belfast.

PEACE PLUS is a new programme focused on supporting social, economic and regional stability, in particular by promoting cohesion between communities. A financing agreement for the programme was agreed between the UK Government, Irish Government and European Commission.

The biggest PEACE programme to date, PEACE PLUS has a total budget of almost £1 billion. The UK Government is providing more than £730 million to the programme, which includes match funding contribution from the Northern Ireland Executive.

This will be the fifth PEACE programme implemented by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Relevant community organisations are encouraged to apply to PEACE PLUS funding calls which are now open. More information on how to apply is available here on SEUPB’s website.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 8 September 2023.

The Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP, has today announced the appointment of five members to the Board of Tourism Northern Ireland.

The Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP, has today announced the appointment of Mrs Aileen Martin, Mrs Linda MacHugh, Mr Ciaran O’Neill, Ms Áine Gallagher and Mr Colin Johnston as new Tourism Northern Ireland (Tourism NI) Board Members. In the absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, this appointment was made under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022.

The Members have taken up post with effect from 8 August 2023.

These new Members will bring a wealth of private and public sector experience to the Board of Tourism NI to the benefit of the local tourism sector. The successful candidates have extensive backgrounds in such areas as corporate governance; financial management; strategic thinking; business improvement and the hotel and hospitality industry, and their significant knowledge and skills will play a key role in ensuring that this important sector goes from strength to strength in what promises to be an exciting time for tourism in Northern Ireland.

Biography

Aileen Martin is a Director of Hastings Hotels, Chair of John Atcheson Trust and Rosie’s Trust and President of Northern Ireland Polio Fellowship. From November 2023 she will also be a Non-Executive Director of Action Cancer.

Linda MacHugh recently retired after 18 years as a senior civil servant during which she held a number of positions including Director of Urban Regeneration Strategy, Principal Private Secretary to the First Minister, Director of Water & Drainage Policy and Director of Corporate Support Services in the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). She also led the Local Government Reform Programme and was Acting Deputy Secretary in DfI.

Prior to joining the Civil Service, Linda supported and promoted the textiles and clothing sector as Director of the NI Textiles and Apparel Association and the Irish Linen Guild and was a Board member of the NI Textiles & Clothing Training Council. She also spent 11 years as a Trustee of the Meningitis Research Foundation.

Ciaran O’Neill is Managing Director at the Bishop’s Gate Hotel Derry, an award-winning establishment that opened its doors in 2016. Beyond his professional achievements, Ciaran has made lasting contributions to the industry landscape. A decade of service on the Board of Visit Derry reflects his dedication to promoting tourism and its growth. His 14-year tenure on the Board of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation culminated in his role as President in 2016.

Ciaran’s dedication extends to nurturing future talent in the tourism sector through his role as Chair of the Hospitality and Tourism Skills Network (HATs) and his commitment to education as Chairperson of the Board of Governors at St Cecilia’s College.

Áine Gallagher is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, having trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Belfast. She is a former Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and Non-Executive Member of the Advisory Group of the Northern Ireland Audit Office and was Director of Operations for Culture Company 2013 Ltd, the company established by the then Derry City Council to develop and deliver the inaugural UK City of Culture in 2013. She was Director of Finance and Corporate Services for Northern Ireland Hospice and worked for Invest NI for two separate terms, most recently in 2021-22. Since 2018, Áine has provided consultancy services to clients in the public, private and voluntary sectors on strategic planning, governance, organisational effectiveness, funding and finance, management reporting, capital and development projects, as well as growth, improvement and cultural programmes.

Colin Johnston has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry.  Joining Galgorm Collection in 2001, Colin held several senior management roles before taking the helm as Managing Director in 2016.  During this time Colin managed the integration and £60 million development phase at Galgorm as well as spearheading the development of the £10 million renovations of The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat and more recently has been involved in the acquisition and development of The Old Inn, Crawfordsburn.   Colin was instrumental in setting up Galgorm’s Spa Scholarship in 2018 and was a founding member of the Northern Ireland Hospitality School which launched in 2021.  More recently Colin has been appointed onto the Board of Hospitality Ulster and is chair of the Careers & Skills Group.

Details of body

Tourism NI has responsibility for the development of tourism product and experience across Northern Ireland and is also responsible for the marketing of Northern Ireland as a tourist destination to visitors within Northern Ireland and from the Republic of Ireland.

Tourism NI’s primary responsibility remains the marketing of Northern Ireland on the Island of Ireland and working with partners to attract visitors from across the globe. However, it also continues to play a vital role in supporting recovery of the tourism and hospitality industries from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and setting them on the path back to sustainable growth. Going forward the organisation will make an important contribution to the Department for the Economy’s 10x economic vision and aims to ensure that tourism contributes to the creation of a dynamic, competitive economy.

Tourism NI Homepage

Terms Of Appointment

The appointments will be for 3 years commencing on 8 August 2023.  Members are expected to attend Board meetings, sub-committee meetings and other events, amounting to at least 1 day per month. In addition, Members will be expected to attend occasional evening engagements. Remuneration is £5435 per annum. Non pensionable.

Regulation

In the absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, these appointments were made under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022, and in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland (CPANI) Code of Practice.

Political Activity

None of the appointees have declared any political activity in the last five years.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 13 August 2023.

Northern Ireland’s innovative businesses will be showcased to more than 100 global investors at the Northern Ireland Investment Summit this September.

• Over 100 global investors confirmed to attend the Northern Ireland Investment Summit with just four weeks to go.
• Investment Summit will promote local opportunities to one of the largest groups of global investors and businesses ever seen in Northern Ireland.
• Speakers and sponsors confirmed for the Summit on 12-13 September.

Northern Ireland’s innovative businesses will be showcased to more than 100 investors from the USA, Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific regions this September.

The Summit marks a significant opportunity to demonstrate Northern Ireland’s innovation and technological strengths across its internationally renowned sectors, including advanced manufacturing, software and technology, financial and professional services, and emerging health and life sciences.

It will build on the opportunities of the Windsor Framework outlined by the Prime Minister earlier this year and forms a key part of the UK government’s programme to create a sustainable and inclusive economy, boosting growth and generating higher-paying jobs for communities across Northern Ireland.

Speakers at the event will include Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, Housing and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove alongside US Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland Joseph Kennedy III.

Kennedy visited the UK in July to discuss the opportunities for US businesses at the Summit and will also lead a delegation of US investors to Northern Ireland as part of a trade mission in October.

US multinational financial group Citi has been confirmed as the event’s principal partner with CEO of Citi EMEA David Livingstone giving a keynote speech at the Summit.

Minister for Investment Lord Dominic Johnson said:

As the UK’s second largest tech hub outside London, we are witnessing a great transformation of business and communities as overseas investment floods into Northern Ireland.

This September’s Investment Summit will provide the rocket fuel for Northern Ireland businesses to launch into new frontiers across technology, finance, and more.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris said:

In just four weeks, leading investors and international businesses from around the globe will see first hand the talent and expertise Northern Ireland has to offer.

The Summit is a fantastic and exciting event which will support the UK Government’s vision for a prosperous Northern Ireland 25 years on from the signing of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

Keith Farley, SVP Individual Voluntary Benefits at Aflac, said:

Northern Ireland’s best-in-class educational system, paired with hard-working, curious people creates the perfect environment for software development and cyber security.

Aflac has found the region to be a top talent hub, supporting our global business. We’re excited to have the opportunity to tell Aflac’s story at September’s Investment Summit.

Panel sessions at the event will focus on why global investors should choose Northern Ireland with breakout sessions for each of the key growth sectors. In addition, An Irish Goodbye directors and youngest ever Oscar recipients Tom Berkeley & Ross White will host a session on Northern Ireland’s thriving creative sector.

Northern Ireland is one of the most cost-competitive places to do business in Europe, attracting £19.2 billion in inward investment in 2021, making it an ideal location for businesses seeking an optimal location for growth.

The Summit precedes the second major Global Investment Summit in late autumn which will bring together over 200 of the world’s highest profile CEOs, investors, and financiers to showcase the whole of the UK as a leading investment destination. The inaugural Global Investment Summit in October 2021 raised nearly £10 billion of investment on the day, leading to at least 30,000 new jobs across green energy and tech.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 8 August 2023.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Right Honourable Chris Heaton-Harris MP, has announced the appointment of four Commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Helen Henderson, Jonathan Kearney, David Lavery and Stephen White will take up their appointments with effect from 1 September 2023 for a term of three years.

A competition will be held shortly for one further Commissioner vacancy details of which will be advertised on the Public Appointments website.

Background

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (the ‘NIHRC’) was created by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, as part of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
The NIHRC was established in 1999 and operates as an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Northern Ireland Office.
Its powers and duties are set out in legislation, and it operates in compliance with UN General Assembly resolution 48/134 (the ‘Paris Principles’) on National Human Rights Institutions. The NIHRC’s functions include keeping under review the adequacy and effectiveness in Northern Ireland of law and practice relating to the protection of human rights and promoting understanding and awareness of the importance of human rights in Northern Ireland.

Further information about the work of the Commission can be found at: https://nihrc.org/about-us

Terms of appointment

• These positions are part-time for a period of three years ending on 31 August 2026.
• The positions receive a fixed annual remuneration of £7,500.
• The positions are not pensionable.

Biography of Appointees

Helen Henderson has a background in global education, community development and peace building within the third sector. She is managing Director of St Columb’s Park House, a peace and reconciliation centre and is a former board member with the Northern Ireland Fisheries and Harbours Authority

Jonathan Kearney is an independent consultant with a focus on policing and human rights. He has undertaken research into international policing and worked as a sessional academic.

David Lavery is currently Chief Executive of the Law Society of Northern Ireland and former Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.

Stephen White is currently a self-employed freelance Security Sector Reform Specialist.

Political Activity

All appointments are made on merit and with regards to the statutory requirements. Political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity in defined categories to be made public. All of the appointees have declared that they have not been politically active in the last five years.

Regulation

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment (OCPA) regulates appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Statutory Requirements

The Secretary of State makes appointments to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 7 August 2023.

The Secretary of State met the K9 Search and Rescue dogs and their handlers at the Northern Ireland Office’s headquarters in Belfast.

Secretary of State, Chris Heaton Harris MP, has praised the efforts of the K9 Search and Rescue dogs and their handlers following a meeting at the Northern Ireland Office’s headquarters in Belfast.

Mr Heaton-Harris personally thanked the team for the work they do to highlight the issue of missing people in Northern Ireland and further afield, and heard more about the services they provide to those in need.

The Secretary of State hailed the “incredible” and “vital” actions of the dogs and their handlers.