Dr David Dobbin CBE - Chairman

John Fizgerald - Vice Chairman

Brendan Butler

Brendan Butler joined the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) in 1988 having previously worked in the public sector for 15 years. Brendan worked in a number of different roles in IBEC including as Director of the Small Firms Association (SFA) also as IBEC's Director of Social Policy and Director of Enterprise. In 2006 Brendan became IBEC's Director of Strategy, Trade, EU and International Affairs responsible for Trade, All- Island, EU and International Policy.Brendan has been involved in the negotiations for the last six national partnership programmes first introduced in Ireland in 1987. Brendan is a member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and the National Competitiveness Council( NCC). Brendan holds a B.Comm from University College Dublin and M.Sc. (Economics) from Trinity College Dublin.

Ray Doherty

Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher is co-founder and Managing Director of Dundalk based company Smarthomes. Set up in 2002, the company employs 65 staff and specialises in the manufacture and installation of technology solutions for the residential construction sector.Smarthomes recently won the contract to install their systems in Adamstown, the new town in South County Dublin, which when complete, will consist of more than 10,000 new homes. In 2004 the company won the Intertrade-Ireland Seedcorn competition and in 2006 Sean was a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year programme.Sean has a diverse background in the areas of Enterprise Development, Politics and Education. He holds a Masters Degree in Business (MBA) from Dundalk Institute of Technology and the University of Ulster at Jordanstown. He was formerly Deputy CEO of the Louth County Enterprise Board where he focused on supporting start up enterprises in the border area. Prior to that, and at the age of 28, he was appointed political advisor to Government Minister Dr. Rory O'Hanlon T.D.Earlier in his career, having qualified as one of the Ireland's first professional Youth and Community Development workers, from NUI Maynooth, he was the author of the Government's first National Alcohol Education Programme for the Departments of Health, Education and the Irish Youth Service.

Jack Gilmour

Jack Gilmour started his working life in a family controlled commercial printing company. When he was in his early twenties in 1970, this was sold and he moved into another existing family business of public houses. At the end of the 1970's, he was in charge of the day-to-day operation of three businesses. Through a further acquisition, he greatly enlarged the group turnover and increased the employees to 110. He then sold his interest in these public houses and retired for a couple of years. In 1992 he purchased his present establishment, situated at Upper Malone on the southern outskirts of Belfast, where he currently employs twenty-five staff. He has been married for thirty years, has a daughter working in New York and a son, who is an architect, currently in London.

Hugh Logue

Hugh Logue is an economist and was a senior official of the European Commission from 1985 to 2005 with experience of R&D development.. Whilst there he initiated the STRIDE (Science and Technology for Regional Innovation and Development in Europe) programme. He was a member of the Delors Task Force which created the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme.
Prior to Brussels he was economist at the National Board for Science and Technology in Dublin. At InterTradeIreland he chairs the Fusion programme. 
He is a director of two  international renewable energy companies. He is vice-chairman of the Irish Peace Institute, University of Limerick., From 1998-2002 he was seconded from Brussels as Special Adviser to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister at Stormont. He was elected for the Derry constituency to the N.I Assembly in 1973, 1975 and 1982.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn is a member of Donegal County Council and Buncrana Town Council. He served as Mayor of Buncrana from June 2005 to June 2006.Pádraig has been the Sinn Féin candidate for Donegal North East in Dáil elections on two occasions. In 2002, he received 10% (3611 votes) and in the 2007 general election, he received 17.5% (6733 votes), just missing out on a Dáil seat.  He is Chairperson of his party’s National Councillors forum (NCF).  He has served on the Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle (National Executive) and continues to represent the party at national and international level on a regular basis.Padraig acted as the Donegal spokesperson for the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) from 1997 to 2001. He also served on the INOU National Executive from 1997 until 2000 as well as representing the organisation on the National Rural Development Forum.At local level, he was a community director on the Inishowen Partnership Board for 5 years from 1996 to 2001.His work as a community activist and political representative has led him to speak at conferences across Europe on the issues of unemployment, regional neglect and rural poverty.
 

Patricia McKeown

Patricia McKeown is Northern Ireland Regional Secretary of the Public Service Union UNISON and President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (2007-2009). Patricia was a former Chair of both its Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) and northern Women’s Committee. She is also a former Deputy Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (NI).  

Patricia has been a union organiser in the public sector since 1980 during which time she has served as lead negotiator for UNISON, Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee of ICTU and current Congress President.   She has represented her union on all key ICTU structures and currently represents Congress on the Economic Development Forum (EDF), the Central Joint Forum (RPA), the ministerial Taskforce on Regional Development and the Assembly Business Trust.

Patricia is a lifelong campaigner for equality and human rights - with a primary focus on women’s rights; the rights of citizens in areas and groups of greatest disadvantage; and workers rights against privatisation of public services.

Dr William Gerard O'Hare CBE

Gerard is one of Northern Ireland's most successful property and business entrepreneurs with a portfolio of developments across Ireland, the UK, Central Europe and the USA. As founder and CEO of Parker Green, Gerard has grown an international portfolio of properties and investments fast approaching $1 Billion Dollars which includes; The Quays Shopping & Leisure Centre in Newry and The Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow, ROI. As an ambassador for Northern Ireland respected for good business practice, sound vision and a proven ability, Gerard has been the catalyst in bringing together many major developments and attracting outside investment into Northern Ireland from the early 1990's to present day, motivating and securing some of the early PFI schemes. Hugely influential through his dedicated commitment to community support and academic excellence, Gerard's distinguished career has seen him appointed as Chairman of the Communities Support Group, President of the Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Chairman of the University of Ulster Foundation as well as a visiting professor at the University of Ulster School of the Built Environment.

In June 2009, HRH Prince Charles appointed Dr O’Hare as his Ambassador for Business and Corporate Social Responsibility in Northern Ireland.

In October 2009, Dr O’Hare along with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, received a joint Lambda Alpha International Award for International Urban Affairs.

Dr O’Hare has recently also been appointed as Honorary Consul for Latvia where he will have special role both for Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.

More recently, Dr O’Hare was listed in the New Years Honours List 2009 in which he was awarded his CBE Honours.

He has also recently received the coveted Maritime Lifetime Award from Ocean Youth Trust of Ireland (only ever previously awarded once before to Lord Glentoran of Antrim) and this was in particular recognition of his recent involvement with the “Green Dragon” the Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Round The World Yacht Race 2008/9.

And for his acclaimed Chairmanship of Belfast Tall Ships 2008 which brought 850,000 visitors to the City Inner Harbour.

Tom Scott OBE

Tom Scott was until 2005 a Northern Ireland senior civil servant latterly with Department for Employment and Learning with responsibility for skills, management development and youth training policy. In November 2005 he became Chair of the Greater Shankill Partnership Board in Belfast leading the partnership on neighbourhood regeneration strategy.Tom is a board member of Ormeau Enterprise Ltd, a local enterprise agency, and is involved with several private and public sector bodies. He is also involved in youth issues through Scouting, Belfast Activity Centre and the Gerry Rogan Initiative Trust. Tom was awarded an OBE in the 2008 New Years Honours List for services to the community in Northern Ireland.

Vincent Parker

Vincent Parker is a Minsiterial and Assembly Policy Advisor to Sinn Féin, providing advice on a range of strategic political and public policy issues.  He is Director of Sinn Féin's Equality and Human Rights Department, and managed the party's delegation during the recent Bill of Rights Forum. Vincent has extensive strategic and operational management, business development, marketing management and public policy experience gained in an international environment, within the private and public sector. A history graduate from Queens University Belfast, Vincent also holds a masters degree from the Institute of European Studies and a postgraduate diploma in marketing from the University of Ulster. He has also studied in Aarhus, Denmark and Boston, USA. Vincent was previously European Director of a leading global life science business with responsibilities including strategic planning, project and business management, brand management and communications.  He has also held management roles in the public policy consultancy sector, and the community sector. He is currently vice-chair of South Belfast District Policing Partnership, chairperson of Finaghy Crossroads Group and a Board member of Feile an Phobail.