Governing Body

Professor Malachy Ó Néill is Director of Regional Engagement at Ulster University and a member of the University Senate. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Academy and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2019. Professor Ó Néill is a specialist in Irish Language and Literature and was awarded a personal Chair in Irish in 2020 having served as as the inaugural Head of School of Irish Language and Literature, 2012-17. Appointed Provost of the Magee Campus in 2016, Professor Ó Néill played a key role in various aspects of the expansion of HE provision in Derry, including the inception of a graduate-entry School of Medicine and the development of a range of key innovation projects through City Deal. He has also represented the University in the development of the North West Tertiary Education Cluster (since 2018), bringing together the work of the FE and HE partners in the cross-border North West city region. Professor Ó Néill is Principal Invesigator (Northern Ireland) in the c.€4 million ‘Atlantic Futures’ research collaboration funded by the Shared Island programme.

Professor Ó Néill completed his BA and PhD at Ulster University and was Head of Irish in St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt, before returning to the University as Lecturer in Modern Irish in 2008. He was editor of the An tUltach journal (2008-10) and was appointed by the Irish Government as a member of the Review Board of the Irish Language Standard (published 2017). He enjoys close ties with the Donegal Gaeltacht and spent many years in Machaire Rabhartaigh and Gaoth Dobhair facilitating courses for teenagers and adult learners of Irish. Professor Ó Néill is in his second term as a member of the Irish Language and Celtic Studies Committee in the Royal Irish Academy. He is a member of the Armagh Diocesan Education Committee of CCMS (non-remunerated) and is a board member of both the Causeway and Derry Chambers of Commerce. Professor Ó Néill has been a member of the Governing Body of NWRC since June 2017.

Leo has over 30 years' experience in the further education sector. He was Head of Curriculum in Omagh College from 2000 and he took over the role of Deputy Director at the merged South West College based at the Fermanagh campus in 2008. He also has served on a number of public bodies and forums relevant to Education, Enterprise and Innovation.

In August 2014 he was appointed as Principal and Chief Executive of North West Regional College, one of the six Regional Colleges in Northern Ireland. The North West Regional College is the largest provider of education and training in the Sub Region.

As Chief Executive, Leo plays an active role in key City and Region Economic and Innovation Forums, in particular with the Regional Council, Invest NI, Londonderry Chamber, Ulster University, Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and Donegal County Council through the North West Corridor.

Leo is currently on the Board of the Derry City and Strabane City Deal and Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

Leo also represents the FE Sector on a number of forums including the NI Skills Council and Matrix Panel.

Paul Clancy has extensive and proven experience over the past 34 years across a range of manufacturing and distribution organisations predominantly in the agriculture, drinks, membership organisations and renewable energy sectors.

As CEO of the Derry/Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and CEO of The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland he has gained significant experience working with businesses and key stakeholders throughout the NW Region and beyond.

As an Executive Board member with BDR Thermea and DeLaval has experience working at Board level on the development and implementation of Corporate Governance activities in the UK and Ireland.

Paul has a BSc Hons in Electrical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, along with Diplomas in Manufacturing Management and Human Resource Management from the Irish Management Institute.

Diane has over 20 years’ experience in strategic senior management roles within the public and private sector, holding positions in various industries including manufacturing, financial services and auditing.

Diane is currently the Finance Director for Severfield (NI) Limited and is the Chair of the Board of Age NI Enterprises Limited.

She is FCCA qualified, holds an Honours degree in Economics and a Masters in Finance from Queens University, Belfast.

Before joining Severfield she held roles in Waterways Ireland, PwC and the former Quinn Group. 

During her varied roles Diane has delivered strategic projects, supported restructuring of businesses, while ensuring governance is maintained throughout.  She has also focused on driving process improvement, efficiencies and introducing change management programmes.

Diane does not hold any other public appointments.

MBE Bsc (Hons) MTPL

Brian has been involved in the voluntary and community sector as a volunteer and paid worker for over 27 years working primarily in Unionist/Loyalist communities and a community volunteer for 40 years.

Brian is currently CEO with the North-West Cultural Partnership a collaborative group for 6 cultural organisations and 25 staff who work extensively in civic engagement and Peacebuilding across the Derry/Strabane District Council area, the province, cross-border and internationally.

For 10 years he was Development worker for the Tullyally and District Development Group and for 7 years, Director of St Columb’s Park House, Centre for Reconciliation in the city.

In 1998, Brian was appointed as the Community Development Representative on the N. Ireland Civic Forum and in 2001 for 5 years he was an independent member of the inaugural Northern Ireland Policing Board. Brian was appointed an independent member of the UK City of Culture Company for 2013 and as a Commissioner on Foyle Port from 2015-2019. Brian was a Governor at Foyle College from 2016-2022. Brian has been Chairperson of the North-West Cricket Union and has been a Board member of both Cricket Ireland for 5 years. Brian was a Board member of Institute FC from 2019-2023.

In 2003 Brian won the Business in the Community Sieff Award for Community Enterprise awarded by HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove estate.

In January 2007, Brian was awarded Member of Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the community in Northern Ireland and he is a 2012 fellow of the Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. In May 2023 Brian was one of only 150 ‘community champions’ from across the UK invited to the Kings inauguration at Westminster Abbey.

Brian holds a Masters degree in Town Planning from the University of Manchester and has taken time out from studying for a Phd at Ulster University looking at the Londonderry Bands Forum and their leadership role in Londonderry.

Sian is a practising lawyer and a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland, having been called to the Bar in 2008. In her 15 years as a lawyer, Sian has gained a broad range of experience across many practice areas, with a particular focus on civil litigation and public law. During this time, Sian has advised and represented private individuals, companies and local authorities in a range of legal disputes

Sian was awarded a Master’s in Human Rights Law in 2007, with a particular focus on issues relevant to Northern Ireland and transitional justice. In 2023 Sian obtained her PhD with the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, for her doctoral thesis which examined the international legal responsibility to protect populations against mass atrocity crimes.

Sian is a Department of Education School Governor of Acorn Integrated Primary School, Carrickfergus.

Mary is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), with over 30 years’ experience working in the private and public sectors, predominantly in economic development, job creation, business support and change management.

As Head of Entrepreneurship at Invest NI, Mary has responsibility for providing strategic direction and leadership of Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship on behalf of Invest NI, working closely with stakeholders in promoting and growing Innovation Driven Entrepreneurs and in the development of a broader Entrepreneurship Action Plan.

She is also a member of the Operational Directors Group and previously held a number of roles across the organisation including in Corporate Finance, Regional Office Management (North West region & Western region), and European Regional Development Funding. More recently, she has been the organisation’s Operational Lead for the delivery of a number of the Department for the Economy’s Covid Emergency Schemes and lead the programme management office with responsibility for facilitating Invest NI’s response to the Independent Review.

Mary holds a BA Hons in Business Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and has previously served as a member of the Board of Governors of two local primary schools.

Mary does not hold any other public appointments.

Kieran has over 40 years’ experience in the textile manufacturing and social enterprise sectors in key positions, most notably as Managing Director of O’Neills Irish International Sports Company Limited, before retiring in December 2021.

Kieran has a track record of driving significant improvements in product innovation, customer service, efficiency, IT and business transformation. Kieran was appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2021, for services to the economy during the pandemic, as a result of the pivot he made to scrubs manufacturing to support the Health trusts in Northern Ireland.

Kieran is also Chairman of 21 Training which promotes apprenticeships in the Northwest.

Kieran is voluntary Chair of Strabane Business Improvement District (BID) which helps local business by, supporting, promoting, improving and attracting visitors and new business to the town centre .

Kieran joined the Board of Invest NI in March 2020 (remuneration amounts to £12,768 per annum).

In 2019 he was awarded the Global Ireland Award for services to Irish enterprise by the Irish Consulate General in Boston, USA. Kieran was awarded an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science (DSc honoris causa) in recognition of his outstanding effort in building economic prosperity within the Northwest, together with an exceptional contribution to the wider NI Covid effort.

Brian is the Director of Development and Enterprise at Enterprise North West, a leading enterprise agency that specialises in business support, economic development and social enterprise development in the North West of Ireland.

He previously worked for an American multinational engineering company, fulfilling a number of roles prior to joining Enterprise North West.

Brian is actively involved in the economic development agenda across the North West and to support ongoing wider engagement with enterprise stakeholders he has held a number of strategic positions within local, regional and national bodies and organisations. These include North West representative on the Northern Ireland Social Enterprise Stakeholder Steering Group, Co-Chair and Member of the DCSDC Community Plan ‘Entrepreneurship and Enterprise’ Thematic Group and member of the Business Engagement Panel for Derry City and Strabane.

As an experienced business consultant, Brian specialises in Business Planning & Strategy, Social Enterprise, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Governance, Strategic Planning and Partnership Working. He has a wide range of experience working on boards and he is currently a voluntary member on the Board of Directors of two local social enterprises as well as the national economic and physical regeneration body, Development Trusts Northern Ireland.

Brian does not hold any other public appointments.

Orlaith was appointed to the Governing Body in May 2025 following an election to represent the College Support Staff.

Orlaith is currently employed as the Skills Development Officer at NWRC with Higher Level Apprenticeships and previously worked with ApprenticeshipsNI.

Orlaith was a student at Thornhill College in Derry and then University of Ulster (Jordanstown) where she studied Communication with Public Relations.

Orlaith is looking forward to her new role within the Governing Body.

Sharon McMahon is the Chief Executive Officer of Loughs Agency, serving as the organisation’s most senior official since March 2017. Having joined the Agency as Director of Corporate Services in 2014, she was initially responsible for various areas that included Finance, Corporate Policy, Strategic Development and other relevant corporate requirements. As CEO, Sharon is responsible for the long-term strategic direction of the organisation within both the Foyle and Carlingford catchment areas.

Throughout her career, Sharon has demonstrated an innate ability to build and lead successful teams. Prior to joining Loughs Agency, she spent 12 years working for Waterways Ireland, holding various high-ranking posts including Head of Strategy & Policy and Head of Operations. During this time, Sharon obtained valuable experience working within a North South co-operation dynamic, and the knowledge she has accumulated working at the largest of the North South Implementation Bodies stands with her to this day.

A graduate of the University of Ulster Business School and holder of a Professional Certificate in Governance, Sharon spent over two decades of her career working in the private sector, where she was able to gain considerable leadership experience before embarking on a career in the public sector. Her leadership style combines action with pragmatism, ensuring no organisational decisions are made until all financial and governance boundaries have been considered in full.

Charlene has over 10 years’ experience working within Strategic Management, Commercial and  Marketing roles within the Aviation industry.  Employed as Airport General Manager & Accountable Manager at City of Derry Airport before taking up a leadership role within the Healthcare sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Charlene has extensive experience working at a strategic level, with excellent leadership skills and experience of strategic oversight and governance.  

Since 2022, Charlene has taken up the role of Corporate Business Lead for Strategic Planning and Performance Group of the Department of Health, responsible for corporate governance, business planning frameworks, contract management, asset and estates management as well as Financial and Resource Management across SPPG properties.

Charlene graduated with a BSc (Hons) Degree before completing a Master’s of Science degree in Communication, specialising in Strategic Management and Marketing from Queens University Belfast in 2004.   Charlene obtained a First-Class (Hons) in Business Management from Michael Smurfit School of Business, UCD in 2009.  In 2015, she attended the William J Clinton Leadership Institute at Queens University Belfast where she successfully completed the Emerging Leaders Programme.

In 2020, Charlene completed the Boardroom Apprentice Programme which enabled her to gain skills and experience to serve on a public or third sector board.   Charlene recently completed the MBA programme at QUB. Charlene previously served on the Board of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce (2014–2019); Causeway Chamber of Commerce (2017–2018); Visit Derry (2018–2019) and Developing Healthy Communities (2020-2023).

Charlene does not hold any other public appointments.

Fred is a Chartered Accountant and experienced finance consultant with significant non-executive experience in the public, voluntary and private sectors .

He held a range of senior roles in his Corporate and Business Banking career and is an independent board observer for a Venture Capital company and an accredited mediator.

He is a board member of the charity Include Youth and social enterprise company Viable Limited(both Voluntary) and a former Vice–Chair of the Simon Community.

Fred holds one other public appointment as a board member of the Business Services Organisation (BSO) (£6004 p.a.)

Peter has worked in a public sector role for the past 27 years and prior to that spent 4 years working in the Further Education sector.  He currently works for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and is responsible for the tourism development and destination management remit, including the areas of marketing, product development, trade engagement and business support.  This service also provides a balanced portfolio of major events across the borough and facilitates partnership with other event promoters.

In addition, Peter is responsible for the Council’s outdoor recreational spaces and the service manages six Holiday and Leisure Parks across the Borough. His role prioritises economic development and the need to develop and sustain the region as a high quality recreational and visitor destination for the benefit of the area’s residents, the business sector and visitors hosted within our community.

Peter does not hold any other public appointments.

Violet was appointed into the Governing Body in May 2022 after being successfully elected to represent College Academic Staff in April 2022.

Violet has been employed as an educator in further and higher education since the early 1990s. In 2001 Violet joined NWRC on a permanent basis and has taught across multiple subject areas and departments. As part of a secondment opportunity Violet worked in Ulster University from 2006 until 2012 supporting the redesign of the PGCFHE now known as the PGCE (FE) after achieving GTC NI recognition in 2011.

Violet was a student at Ulster University having studied a BA (Hons) Public Management, a PGDipFHE, a PGDip in Computing and Information Systems and a MSc Lifelong Learning (for which she received the Biggar Award in recognition of highest Academic achievement).

Violet’s belief in lifelong learning was further validated when she was successful in achieving a Med in Education from Queens University Belfast in 2019. Violet is a passionate supporter of a quality educational experience for all and is an advocate of ‘learning is a lifelong journey’. Having been successful in securing a promotion within NWRC in January 2021 Violet is now the HE Curriculum Lead – Quality Enhancement and this new role enables her to offer further support for quality assurance within NWRC processes and programmes.