10 February 2000

APPOINTMENTS TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND TOURIST BOARD

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, MLA, today confirmed the appointment of two new members to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The existing Chairman, Deputy Chair and one member have also been re-appointed.

The two new members are Mr Jean Francois Jamet and Mrs Irene Adair.

Mr Jamet is currently Managing Director of Guinness having been with the company since 1985. For the last 13 years he has been involved in raising the corporate profile of Guinness. He is currently a member of the Board of Guinness Ireland, Council Member on the Chamber of Commerce and was for 2 years a board member of ABSA. He currently holds no other public appointments.

Mrs Adair is the owner of a guest house and chalet business located in the Mournes. She currently sits as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development representative on the Mourne Area Based Strategy and as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board representative on the Mourne Heritage Trust. She has been Chairperson of Kilkeel Development Association which helps in the economic regeneration and development of the Kilkeel area since 1 January 1999. She was awarded the MBE for services to tourism in June 1997.

None of the appointees has carried out any significant political activity in the last five years.

Mr Jamet and Mrs Adair are appointed from 1 February 2000 for a three year period.

The existing Chairman, Deputy Chair and one member have also been re-appointed for a further three year period commencing 1 January 2000.

Mr Roy Bailie, OBE (Chairman) currently owns W & G Baird Holdings Ltd, Northern Ireland's largest printing business, which comprises seven companies, five based in Northern Ireland, and two in England.

Dr Mary Peters, CBE (Deputy Chair) is an Olympic gold medalist and Director of Mary Peters Sports Limited and is involved in various charities.

Ms Anne Diver (Member) is a licensee of 3 family-owned public houses in Belfast. Formally a teacher, she became involved in the family business in the 1980s. She is Director and Casting Agent for Design and Production Co-North and South (film, commercial and corporate) and is a Trustee of the Mourne Heritage Trust.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI). Constituted under the Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, it has responsibility for developing tourism in Northern Ireland and for promoting the area as a tourist destination.

The other Northern Ireland Tourist Board members are Mrs Annie Courtney, Mrs Marie Thomas, Mr John O'Carroll and Mr Tom McGrath.