Colin D Gowdy

Expertise

I am a solicitor in private practice in Northern Ireland with my own firm which acts for a broad range of clients. I am Deputy County Court Judge, have been an Assistant Boundary Commissioner and am a past Chair of the Belfast Solicitors Association. I have sat on management committees of a number of local charities and on the boards of governors of schools in Northern Ireland.

Personal interest in RNID

For many years I was a member of the Board of Management of the Ulster Institute for the Deaf before its amalgamation with RNID. I have a daughter who is profoundly deaf and through her I have developed an awareness of the many needs of deaf people.

Eddie McArdle

Expertise

I was a teacher for 18 years and am now Registrar of the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland. Before this I was Deputy Chief Executive of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the largest employer of teachers in Northern Ireland, and a council member for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

Personal interest in RNID

I have a hearing loss and wear a hearing aid, and several members of my family also have a hearing loss.

Mary Mitchell

Expertise

Since 1980, I have provided a hearing therapy service for hard of hearing people and people with tinnitus in Northern Ireland. I have a lot of experience working with the voluntary sector which represents the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people. This includes being Secretary of the Ulster Institute for Deaf People (1980 to 1998) and a member of the RNID Assembly (1993 to 1997). I am also a member of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee for the Advancement of Communication for Deaf People, having been Chair from 1989 to 1993.

Mairead O’Neill

Expertise

I work in the Inland Revenue as an Inspector of Taxes.

Personal interest in RNID

I am hard of hearing and have tinnitus, and wear digital hearing aids which have made a tremendous difference to my life. When my hearing deteriorated 12 years ago, I faced an uphill struggle to educate my employer and colleagues about deaf awareness. I successfully alerted them to the need to provide a service for hard of hearing and deaf people.

Rev Will Murphy

Expertise

I was appointed as Superintendent to the Ulster Institute for Deaf People in April 1979 and I am currently Chaplain to the Church of Ireland Ministry to Deaf People. This involves having regular Services in sign language in the Church in Wilton House and providing pastoral ministry to deaf people throughout Northern Ireland.

Chair of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee of CACDP from 1993–2000.

Secretary of the International Ecumenical Working Group for Pastoral Care Among Deaf People from 1994 to the present.

Member of the Church of Ireland Working Group on Disability whose primary objective is to raise the awareness of people in parishes to the issues that surround disability in relation to Church life.

In 1983 I was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship to visit the USA and Canada to study the provision of services to deaf people in both educational and religious settings.

Stephen Kingon - Specialist adviser

Expertise

I am the managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Ireland. I am a past President of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and am currently Chair of its Economic Development Committee. I am also a member of the Northern Ireland Economic Development Forum and joint Secretary of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. In the 1999 New Year Honours’ List I was awarded a CBE for services to economic development.

Personal interest in RNID

I am committed to promoting social inclusion as inextricably linked with economic regeneration and national prosperity, and believe that RNID can and does contribute towards achieving that goal.