Foster appoints new board members to Consumer Council
Tuesday, 27 January 2009Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has announced the appointment of three new members to the Board of the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland.
Mr Kit Chivers, Mrs Anne Diamond and Mr Alan Ferguson will serve for a period of three years, having taken up their posts on 1 January 2009.
Welcoming the appointments, Arlene Foster said: “Mr Chivers, Mrs Diamond and Mr Ferguson have taken up their role as Board members of the Consumer Council at a challenging time.
“The wide range of skills and talents which they bring to the Board will be of undoubted value to the Council, as it pursues its aim of championing and safeguarding the interests of consumers in Northern Ireland.”
The Minister also announced the reappointment of Mr Michael Donnelly, Mr John Gillvray, Mrs Celia Gourley, Mr Bob McCann and Mr William Taylor. This is their second term of three years as Board members, which also commenced on 1 January 2009.
The Minister continued: “I would like to acknowledge the commitment and effort Mr Donnelly, Mr Gillvray, Mrs Gourley, Mr McCann and Mr Taylor have already shown on behalf of Northern Ireland consumers.
“Their experience and expertise in consumer issues will continue to be of great benefit to the Council as it continues its work. I wish them every success with the important work that lies ahead.”
The appointments have been made in accordance with the Guidelines of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Membership of the Consumer Council is not salaried but a fee of £101.34 per day is payable.
Following Eleanor Gill’s recent resignation announcement, the Minister paid tribute to the leadership displayed during her time as Chief Executive.
Arlene Foster said: “Eleanor Gill led the Consumer Council during a period of unprecedented change for the organisation, ensuring that consumer interests were at the forefront of the decision-making process.
“I thank her for her dedicated public service and for the professionalism she brought to a very challenging role. I wish her every success for the future”.
Notes to Editors:
1. Pen Pictures
Mr Kit Chivers
Mr Chivers was the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland from the formation of the office in August 2003 to August 2008. Prior to that he worked as Chief Inspector of the Courts in England and Wales and the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service for five years. From 1968-1998 he held a range of posts in HM Treasury. He is currently a Commissioner in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, with a remuneration £5,000 per annum.
Mrs Anne Diamond
Mrs Diamond will retire shortly as co-director of Capital Planning for the Belfast Health and Social Services Trust having previously served as Capital Utilisation and Investment Project Manager and Strategic Development Manager (Family and Child Care Programme) in the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust. Mrs Diamond is a qualified social worker and worked for many years in fostering and adoption.
Mr Alan Ferguson
Mr Ferguson has been the Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health Service since 1976. He has served as the Northern Ireland Lay Representative on the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Chair of its Strategic Health Committee. He also chairs Carecall, a social enterprise firm, which provides employee assistance programmes to a wide range of bodies including the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
Mr Michael Donnelly
Mr Donnelly is a partner in consultancy firms, Second Nature and RealEyes Sustainability Ltd. His main interests lie in sustainable development and he has been working towards this for the past 11 years. Until July 2005, he was Director at Sustainable Northern Ireland, a not-for-profit organisation supporting this work. Since then he has been helping organisations in the public and private sector transform their operations to become more sustainable in light of the challenges and opportunities that exist in this field globally. He employs the Swedish framework called The Natural Step in his work.
He is an expert facilitator in processes including Future Search and Open Space, and he has led many change management processes in Government and Communities across Ireland.
He has a degree in European Business and a Masters in Environment and Development. His early experience was as a marketing specialist in the technology sector.
Mr Donnelly is the Convenor of the Consumer Council's Food and Consumer Affairs Group.
Mr John Gillvray OBE
Mr Gillvray is Convenor of the Consumer Council’s Energy Group. He was Managing Director of Farrans (Construction) Limited for 8 years prior to his retirement from the company in December 2004 following a long career in a range of senior posts with the company and its subsidiaries. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Past Chairman of the Northern Ireland Region of that Institution and is currently a member of the Institution’s Editorial Panel for the publication “Civil Engineering”.
He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Highways and Transportation, a Past Chairman of QUB’s Civil Engineering Advisory Committee and a Past President of the NI Construction Employers Federation. He was awarded the OBE in 2003 for his services to the construction industry.
He is a Board Member of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), with a remuneration of £3,700 per annum, past Chair of Buildsafe-NI and Co-Chair of the Joint HSENI-HSA Construction Safety Working Group.
He was a member of the Integrated Transport Stakeholders Group and an independent member the Advisory Council for Infrastructure Investment. He is Chair of the Board of Governors at Bangor Grammar School and President of North Down Rotary Club.
Celia Gourley OBE
Mrs Gourley lives in Lisburn and retired as Head of the Industrial Development Board’s Export Service, after a career with the Civil Service. She was a Board member of the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund, where she served on the Publicity and the Pain Relief and Respite Care Sub-Committees. She is a founder member of the Prosthetics User Forum, Northern Ireland and a past Chairman. Mrs Gourley is a Governor of Wallace High School (unpaid, travel expenses only) and is Convenor of the Consumer Council’s Consumer Education Group.
Mr Bob McCann
Mr McCann is a Chartered Certified Accountant who has held a number of senior management posts in both the private and public sectors. He has worked for several companies within Viridian Group PLC, including a time as General Manager (Finance) in NIE. Subsequently he established the information technology company Sx3 and was appointed as a Director. He is also a Non Executive Director in Northern HSC Trust (remuneration £7,500 per annum) and Chair of the Audit Committee. In addition he is a Director of Victim Support Northern Ireland and Chair of the Audit Committee of Northern Ireland Commission for Children and Young People.
William Taylor OBE
Mr Taylor is managing partner of WJ Taylor and Partners, Glastry Farms. He has held senior positions in numerous agri-businesses and other representative organisations in NI, GB and Europe, including Chair of the EU Advisory Committee on Livestock Products (2000-04).He is a member of the Industry Advisory Group advising DARD and Invest Northern Ireland on the Food Industry, a member of the International Image Group to advise the NI Food Strategy Group and has just completed a second term as a member of the Food Standards Agency NI and the NI Economic Development Forum. He was also a Nuffield Scholar (2004-05) and a former President of the Ulster Farmers Union.
2. The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, established in 1985, under the terms of the General Consumer Council (Northern Ireland) Order 1984, is funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. The aims of the GCC are to:
· promote and safeguard the interests of all consumers in Northern Ireland;
· campaign on behalf of consumers for the best possible standards of service and protection;
· undertake research and data collection;
· give advice and information and issue publications; and
· deal with individual complaints about passenger transport, coal, natural gas and electricity.
3. Under the provisions of the Order, the Board of the GCC shall consist of a Chairman, a Deputy Chairman and no more than 16 members. Current membership stands at 13 (Chairman, Deputy Chairman and 11 Members).
4. All appointments and reappointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published.
5. None of the new members or the reappointed members carried out any political activity in the past five years.
6. For media enquiries please contact the DETI Press Office, telephone 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
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