Governing Body

Gerard Finnegan took up his position as Chair of the Governing Body in April 2014.

Gerard is a qualified Chartered Accountant who has over 30 years’ experience working in the public and private sectors in Ireland and overseas. He works in strategy, finance, funding, governance, change management and senior executive mentoring.

Gerard is Chief Finance Officer at Devenish Nutrition, a global leader in sustainable food solutions. Headquartered in Belfast, Devenish employs over 550 people and trades in 50 markets across the world providing integrated environmental, animal and human health solutions to farmers and food producers. Devenish has developed a portfolio of agri-technologies that address animal and human health and climate challenges from years of science-led R&D. It is bringing these technologies to the world from Northern Ireland.

Gerard was previously Head of Finance and Corporate Affairs at Ilex the Urban Regeneration Company for Derry, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a Regional Manager of Invest NI. He also served as a member of the Governing Body of the Northwest Institute of Further and Higher Education.

Gerard lives in Derry with his wife Máire.

Leo took office as Principal and Chief Executive of the North West Regional College from August, 2014.

Leo is a graduate of Economics, and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration alongside post graduate diplomas in Education and Accounting. He is also a qualified Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Leo has more than 25 years of experience in further education in both the classroom and in a managerial capacity. Leo previously worked within the South West College, where he held a broad range of portfolios over a 14-year period at senior management level including Curriculum and Economic Development, Client Services and Strategy and International Development.

Leo has a keen interest in local history and is a qualified Tour Guide. He has also completed a number of marathons through which he has raised funds for local charities. He resides in the Waterside area of Derry with his wife Siobhan who is a Lecturer at North West Regional College.

Padraig is currently Chair of Hunter Apparel Solutions, CultureTECH and U4D (a local lobby group for the expansion of the Magee campus of the Ulster University). Padraig also serves on the boards of InvestNI, St Mary’s College and Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

Establishing enterprise software house Singularity in Derry in 1994, he opened offices in London, New York, Singapore and India; Kofax Incorporated successfully acquiring the company in 2011. Previously an electronics engineer and software professional in London and New York, Padraig is a past president of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, served on the boards of Momentum (the NI Software Industry Federation), School Employer Connections and Oakgrove Integrated Primary School.

He is a past British Computer Society Northern Irish IT Person of the Year and received an OBE in 2009 for services to business. A past pupil of Derry’s Pennyburn Primary School and St Columb’s College, Padraig holds a 1st Class BSc in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from Manchester University and is an exec. ed. alumni of Stanford University. He is a founding member of the Derry Halo Acorn Angels and mentors innovative local companies like Quibizm.

Padraig is married to Jill he lives with his 4 children in his native Derry.

Roslyn Dougherty is a social worker by profession, with almost 38 years’ experience prior to her recent retirement. As a practitioner, she has worked across Adults and Children’s services specialising in Sensory support and Disability Services. She was employed as Assistant Director of Social Work in South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust with responsibility for providing operational and professional leadership on Social Services learning, development and research. In this role, Mrs Dougherty led the co-ordination, delivery and management of the learning and development of the Social Work and Social Care workforce within the Trust.

She also represented the Trust on a range of regional bodies and task groups, working in partnership with Social Work Education providers and other organisations, and has contributed to the development and implementation of strategies at a Northern Ireland level.

Mrs Roslyn Dougherty has been a member of the Governing Body of the North West Regional College since March 2016

Stephen Gillespie is the Director of Business and Culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council. The Business and Culture directorate encompasses a range of services the local Council provides such as economic development and job creation, business support and engagement, ICT, tourism, arts and culture, visitor services, heritage and museums and marketing and communications.

Although originally from Belfast, Stephen has spent all of his working life in Derry, initially qualifying as an accountant with Desmond and Sons before becoming the Financial Controller of Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners.

Married with two children, when not working or with his family, Stephen would devote a lot of his spare time to playing and coaching both football and badminton. On a personal level the development of youth through sport has always been very important.

Dr Hand is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Since 1993 he has been employed in local manufacturing industry, initially with Du Pont (UK) and, following changes in company ownership, currently with The LYCRA Company, fulfilling a variety of roles including Project Engineer, Environmental Engineer, Technical Support Engineer and Production Manager. His current role is the Site Operations Manager which includes all production and Engineering processes including Power and Utilities, leading a Team of over 250 employees. Dr Hand has been a certified Six Sigma Black Belt since 2002, and has expertise in process safety management, operational excellence, problem solving and leadership.

Mr Gavin Killeen was educated at Foyle and Londonderry College and has been Managing Director of Nuprint Technologies Ltd since 2004 having joined the business in 1997 as General Manager. Specialising in supplying the Food, Beverage and Manufacturing sectors with labels and flexible packaging. Nuprint lists many Global leading companies as customers. Major investment in both people and equipment have allowed Nuprint to transform itself to become a design led producer of packaging to world-class companies internationally for which it has been awarded many local, regional and national awards.

Mr Killeen is actively involved in the Education and Skills agenda. He is a Co-Chair, along with the Mayor, of the Derry City Strabane District Council-Strategic Growth Plan since 2016. He has chaired the Council’s Education and Skills Implementation Group since 2009 and has been a member of the DfE Minister’s Expert Panel reviewing Apprenticeships and Youth Training.

Mr Killeen is Past President of both the local Rotary Club (2012-2013) and the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce (2016). He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry in March 2018. He is a Vice President of the City of Derry Rugby Club. He has been a member of the Governing Body since August 2011, and is currently Vice Chair. Mr Killeen does not currently hold any other public appointments.

Mr Samuel McGregor is a former director of Development Services, Leisure and Tourism at Limavady Borough Council. In this role he had responsibility for policy formation and corporate planning. He is a member of the Governing Body of St Finlough’s Primary School in Ballykelly and Limavady/Vigneux-sur-Seine Twinning Committee. He was appointed to the Causeway Coast & Glens Policing & Community Safety Partnership in June 2020.

Martin has worked for 10 years as a manager with Royal National Institute of Blind People. During that time he has designed and developed a range of programmes aimed at improving the skills and abilities of people who are blind or partially sighted.

Martin comments:

“I have a particular interest in getting blind or partially sighted people into employment and helping them to achieve successful and fulfilling careers. Having a close link with further education provision is an important element in making this happen.”

Prior to this, Martin was a secondary school teacher and taught French and Business Studies in a range of schools throughout Northern Ireland.

Martin is Chair of the Education Committee.

Dr Malachy 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 in 2008 as Lecturer in modern Irish. He was appointed as the inaugural Head of School of Irish Language and Literature in 2012 and has led the subject in achieving 100% overall satisfaction in the NSS in recent years. He has also played a key role across the University in developing employability as a key component of the student experience and was awarded the Students’ Union prize for excellence in Employability and Placement Support earlier this year.

Malachy has an excellent track record in community engagement and leads a number of widening access programmes including ‘Irish in the Club’ (with Ulster GAA) and ‘Irish for All’ (with East Belfast Mission). He has played a pivotal role in establishing an Irish Studies Summer School for international students since 2013, developing the provision to incorporate International Business and Engineering in recent years.

Malachy is a member of the Review Board of the Irish Language Standard (Irish Government), a former editor of the An tUltach journal and was founding chairperson of Gaelscoil Eoghain, Cookstown. 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.

Mr Quinn is a chartered architect with over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry. Since August 2014 he has been senior architect in the Property Services Division of the Education Authority – North Eastern Region, formerly the North Eastern Education and Library Board. He was previously director of his own architectural practice for three years and a partner in a private architectural practice for 20 years. He is chairman of the Advisory Committee on Art and Architecture to the Irish Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth.

Mr Quinn is also a member of the Department of Education Armagh Diocesan Education Committee. He has been a member of the NWRC Governing Body since August 2015. Mr Quinn does not currently hold any other public appointments.

Lisa was successful in the College election in January 2018 to represent the academic staff on the Governing Body.

Lisa has been employed in the education sector since graduating as a primary school teacher in 2003 and was fortunate to be appointed as an Early Years lecturer since 2008 in NWRC. In 2011 Lisa was appointed as Curriculum Manager in Early Years and has developed and grown the College’s HE provision allowing Early Years students to access the degree programme through partnership working with Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Lisa has taught over a range of programmes from level 3 to degree level on modules such as Culture and Contemporary Issues, Safeguarding, Inclusion and Promoting Language.

Lisa has a keen interest in developing international links and is representing the College on the European Key Action One: Early Years Education – International Learning Module ‘ Projecteye’ and as a result NWRC students will get the chance to travel to the five partner Colleges.

In addition Lisa is involved in the College Working Group with the Western Health and Social Care Trust to promote awareness and develop courses around Infant Mental Health and Resilience bringing this experience back to our students to ensure they are equipped for working life in the early year’s sector.

Michelle was appointed into the Governing Body in July 2020 after being successfully elected to represent College Support Staff in March 2020.

Michelle has been employed with the College since 2008 and has gained valuable experience across various support Departments. Michelle began her NWRC career within the Student Services Department as a Student Finance Administrator working closely with and supporting students with financial assistance. In 2016 Michelle moved into the Administration Department, as the Administration Manager, and more recently took up the additional responsibility of compliance within the Training Support Dept. and is now the Administration and Training Support Manager. Michelle led on the implementation of GDPR within the College and is the current Chair of the Equality Working Group.

Michelle was a former student at NWRC having studied a HND in Business before progressing onto UU to complete a BA (Hons) in Business with Marketing. Michelle actively supports and encourages a culture where behaviours support equality, diversity and inclusion for everyone and is delighted to represent support staff within the Governing Body.