Appointments To The Board Of Belfast Harbour Commissioners Announced

10 January 2005
APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD OF BELFAST HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCED
Minister of State, John Spellar, MP, today announced appointments to the Board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

The appointments will take effect from 1 January 2005.

The Minister said: "A wide range of candidates were attracted for the vacant member posts on the Board. The newly appointed members will contribute to the creation of a strong and representative Board, which has 15 members.
"I welcome the four members appointed through the recent competition:

Mr Len O’Hagan, Mr Ronnie Foreman, Ms Mary McMahon and Mr Steve Pollard, all of whom bring experience in different areas which will be of benefit to the Board.

"I welcome the re-appointment of Mr Michael McAree, Mr Richard Milliken, Mr Samuel Reed, Mr David Russell, and Mr Joseph McCusker, whose knowledge and experience will be of great value to the Board, at a time of considerable change. I also welcome back the four councillors nominated by Belfast City Council - Alan Crowe, Ian Crozier, Fra McCann and Patrick McCarthy. Mr John Doran, the Port’s Chief Executive, will continue to serve on the Board in his ex-officio capacity.

"Under the able chairmanship of Frank Cushnahan, the new Board will help build on the continuing success of the Port, and is well equipped to help maximise the Port’s potential. I wish to thank the outgoing members, Dr Maria Moloney and Mr Mark Finlay, for their dedicated service to the Board. They made a valuable contribution to the work of the Board and I wish them well for the future," the Minister added.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Belfast Harbour Commissioners are responsible for the improvement, maintenance and management of Belfast Port, and for the accommodation and facilities within it. Board members currently receive remuneration of Ł9040 per annum.

The present term of office for the members of the Board, expires on 31 December 2004. The new Board is being appointed from 1 January 2005, for a period of three years.

Leonard John Patrick O’Hagan has a BSc in Economics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and of the Institute of Marketing. He has commercial, operational, strategic and financial credentials and has held senior positions in public companies: Chief Operations Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Fitzwilton PLC, Chairman of Safeway Ireland and Managing Director of the Jefferson Smurfit Group. In the recent past he has been a Member of the CBI/IBEC Joint Business Council, Chairman of the CBI/IBEC Joint Business Development Committee and is currently a Director of the Independent News Media.

Ronnie Moncrieff Foreman is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and of the Chartered Institute of Management. He is currently Chairman of the Aervent Group and Chief Executive of Foreman Consultants and was previously Managing Director of Alpha Controls Limited (an engineering company). He is also currently a Director of Kilkeel Business Park, a Board Member of the James Joyce Centre (the Board of this aims to promote the life and works of James Joyce) and Director of the Fluor Corporation. His other public appointments include being a Director of Anglo-Irish Encounter and he was previously a Board member and then Chairman of the Northern Ireland Statistics Advisory Group.

Ms Mary McMahon, BA, MSSc, Diploma in Community Management, is currently a member of the Board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners. She has been a lifelong human rights and social justice activist and is involved in a range of community, voluntary and political organisations. She has been a Trade Unionist all her working life, and was a past member of Belfast City Council and is a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Forum and helped Labour in elections in the Republic of Ireland in 2004. She is currently a self employed social policy researcher, having previously been employed by the Belfast Traveller Support Group, Ligoniel Community Enterprises and Ligoniel Community Association. She was also previously a member of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive board and a member of the Advisory Committee on Travellers.

Steven Francis Pollard, DMS, MBA, MIBA (Member of the Institute of Business Advisers), MCIM (Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing), MICM (Member of the Institute of Chartered Management) and is currently a member of the Board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners. He is currently employed by Conexus and was previously Chief Executive of East Belfast Enterprise, a local enterprise agency. He has over 10 years experience in the management of light industrial business incubation and growth parks and is a qualified business advisor and trainer. He is a member of the East Belfast Regeneration Committee, formed by a number of local councils.

Ms McMahon is a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Forum and has worked for the Labour Party in the Republic of Ireland in Elections in 2004. None of the other individuals have carried out any political activity in the last 5 years.

The process of reconstituting the Board was carried out in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Monitored Kitemark Scheme.

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