Justice Minister Naomi Long has appointed Paula Kealey and Dr Julie Aiken as new Board Members of the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust (PRRT).
The Minister said: “I would like to congratulate Paula and Julie on their appointment. Together they bring a wealth of experience to these important roles and I wish them every success for their term of office at the Trust.”
The Minister also thanked the outgoing members, she added: “I would like to place on record my thanks to former Board Members Carol Ackah and Oliver Wilkinson for their personal commitment and contribution to the work of PRRT over the last number of years.”
PRRT is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Department of Justice. It provides psychological therapies, physiotherapy, coaching and development, training and education programmes (in accordance with assessed needs) to support: police officers retiring from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), or the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC (RUC GC); and other Justice partners.
The appointments have been made following an open competition regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland. The appointees have taken up office on 21 September 2022.
Notes to editors:
1.The PRRT Board comprises a Chairperson and six Board Members. Of the six Board Members, one is nominated by the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and two are nominated by the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, subject to the approval of the Department.
2.The procedure for the appointment of Board members is compliant with the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPANI) Code of Practice. The appointments are made by the Department of Justice taking account of its statutory duty under the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust Regulations 2014.
3.Membership of the PRRT Board is as follows:
Mrs Michele Larmour, Chairperson
Mrs Bernie McCrory
Ms Paula Kealey
Dr Julie Aiken
The PSNI Statutory Nominee is currently undergoing appointment
The two Police Federation for Northern Ireland Statutory Nominee positions are currently undergoing appointment
4.The tenure for the Board members will commence on 21 September 2022 for a period of up to four years.
5.Remuneration for Board Members is £5,000 per annum.
6.The new Board Members do not hold any other public appointments.
7.The appointment of Board Members is 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. Details of the declaration in relation to political activity are included below.
8.Pen Pictures
Ms Paula Kealey
Ms Kealey is an Associate Consultant with the Health and Social Care Leadership Centre, a Mentor for a Government Department Capacity Building Programme in Voluntary and Community Sector and is the Clinical Project Lead for Cancer Prehabilitation in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. She is also a Guest Lecturer in Cancer Rehabilitation and Palliative Care at Ulster University and developed and delivered content for the first online Allied Health Professional, International Masters module in Long Term Conditions.
She is a registered Occupational Therapist with over 17 years’ clinical experience in rehabilitation at senior, specialist and management levels within the legacy Foyle Trust and North and West Belfast Trust and established the first Community Specialist Occupational Therapy Service in Cancer and Palliative Care in Northern Ireland. Her experience also includes 14 years senior and strategic roles within a leading UK Charity where primary focus was Northern Ireland centric. Here she led a wide range of local and regional service developments, improvements and transformational change programmes to improve the lives of people living with cancer and those close to them. She has influenced and negotiated on campaigns, policy and strategic priorities at government level and across partnerships and contributed to the development of national and local strategy, policy, guidelines and pathways. Ms Kealey has a BSc Honours Degree in Occupational Therapy, an MSc in Medical Science with published research and is a qualified and experienced Coach and Mentor.
Political Activity: None
Dr Julie Aiken
Dr Julie Aiken is Regional Manager with Samaritans in Northern Ireland. Her doctoral research focused on the rights of Irish Traveller children to an effective education in NI. She has worked in the community and voluntary sector for nearly 15 years including the Red Cross and Volunteer Now where she was part of the team that delivered the World Police and Fire Games in 2013 and Giro d’Italia Big Start in 2014. She has spent the last 8 years working in mental health and wellbeing.
Political Activity: None
9.For media enquiries contact the Department of Justice Press Office at press.office@justice-ni.gov.uk
10.The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted out of hours 028 9037 8110.