Niamh PeopleBoard Members | Group Senior Management Team 

At Niamh we’ve always understood that people are at the core of our business. That’s why we’d like you to get to know us so much better, to put faces to names and personality to the person. Please select from the list below to find out more.

Professor Martin Bradley (Chair of the Niamh Group Board)

Professor Bradley was Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) from 2005 until his retirement in July 2011. Prior to taking up post as CNO he was Director of the Royal College of Nursing, Northern Ireland.  His background is in general and psychiatric nursing, nurse education, public health, and commissioning in the Health and Social Services. During his time in DHSSPS he led on a range of initiatives, including the development of the first Palliative Care Strategy for Northern Ireland, the introduction of a care pathway for children with Complex Healthcare Needs, the development of the Patient Dignity Standards, a series of standards to prevent and reduce healthcare associated infections, the Framework for Mental Health Nursing, and with the Chief Medical Officer, co-chaired the Confidence in Care Group, to oversee new mechanisms to ensure standards in professional practice. Currently he is a Trustee of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, and a member of the UK Board of Healthcare Chaplains.  He is a past member of the UK Central Council for Nurses and Midwives, and a former member of the BBC Broadcasting Council, and chaired the National Cancer Institute, all Ireland Cancer Nursing Group. He has a long involvement with NIAMH, a member since 1974, and held a range of positions including Chair of the Education Committee and Vice Chair of the Niamh Board. He has a particular interest in community development, public health, targeting health and social need, primary care and practice development.  He is a visiting Professor of Nursing at the University of Ulster, and in 2000 was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing for his services to Nurse Education and Higher Education. In November 2007 he was invited by the Commonwealth Secretariat to address the Ministerial Commonwealth Conference in Uganda on “Health for Women and Children - Realising the Potential.” He is married with two children.

 

Desmond Poole 

Dr Desmond Poole is a clinical psychologist previously with Windsor House, Belfast City Hospital. Prior involvement with the Niamh includes his work with the South Belfast Beacon Day Support centre of Niamh in his role as Chairman of the support group. Dr Poole acts in a clinical advisory capacity for Carecall.

 

Ken Addley

Prof Ken Addley is a Consultant Occupational Physician and currently Director of occupational health for the Northern Ireland civil service. He is a visiting professor to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in the University of the United Arab Emirates and has previously been the Dean of the Irish Faculty of Occupational Medicine and chairman of the NI group of the Society of Occupational Medicine. He has a special interest in mental health at work and occupational stress.

 

James Brown

Mr James Brown has been involved with Carecall since 2004 and is currently the Chair of Carecall board. In 2009 Mr Brown became a Trustee of the Niamh Board and a member of the Niamh Appointments and Remuneration Committee. He is currently the Managing Director of Funeral Services Northern Ireland and the National President of Irish Association of Funeral Directors (IAFD)

 

Ivan Carruthers

Ivan Carruthers graduated from QUB in 1969 with an Honours degree in Economics. His first job was with Standard Telephones and Cables in Monkstown as a management trained and then joined the inland Revenue as an Inspector of Taxes in 1971. Over the next 11 years Ivan had postings in the Midlands and Mid Wales as a District Inspector, responsible for up to 100 staff and the assessment of hundreds of millions of tax, followed by a spell in Somerset House, London (Revenue Headquarters) where his primary job was advising Treasury Ministers on taxation issues. In 1982 he was 'headhunted' by Arthur Andersen to work as a senior manager in their taxation department in Belfast, Dublin and London. He then qualified as a chartered accountant while with Arthur Andersen and joined Ernst and Young as a direct entry partner in 1986. He build up the taxation side of the business to over 40 people and dealt with the tax affairs of inter alia, Viridian/NIE, UTV and Shorts prior to his retirement from the firm on 30th June 2009. Ivan now works as a tax consultant under his own name.

 

Dr Margaret Cupples

Dr Cupples is Senior Lecturer at the Queens University Department of General Practise and Primary Care.  Dr Cupples’ current appointments include: Clinical Reader, General Practice, Queen’s University of Belfast, Clinical Lead, N Ireland Clinical Research Network (Primary Care) and General Practitioner, Woodbrooke Medical Practice, Belfast with research interests in: Cardiovascular medicine, with emphasis on secondary prevention and primary care management ; Health promotion, especially physical activity and diet; Maternal and child health  Leading application for a Research Network in Primary Care, affiliated to the NI Clinical Research Network  Member of Stroke and Cardiovascular research networks Member of UKCRN PCRN Operational Steering Group

 

Paul Devine

Dr Paul Devine is chair of the Beacon Development Panel. Paul is a Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry at Shannon Clinic, the Regional Secure Unit and with the Community Forensic Mental Health Team.

 

Stephen Hodkinson

Stephen Hodkinson was Chief Executive of the NI Central Services Agency for Health & Social Services for 19 years. He is a graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast, with a BSc (Economics) and has an MSc (Social Policy) and MA (Marketing) from the University of Ulster. Mr Hodkinson has worked in the Health Service since 1975. He currently provides consultancy services to the private, statutory and voluntary sectors.

 

Dr Clare Mangan

Dr Mangan graduated from the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB) as an Educational Psychologist. She remained at QUB where she completed her PhD in 1986. Initially she worked on a range of education and psychology research projects including student access to higher education as well as studies that evaluated strategies to promote the achievements of lower attaining pupils.   Further to working as a teacher in Manchester she worked as an Educational Psychologist in Northern Ireland from 1991 onwards, working in North Eastern Education and Library Board, South Eastern Education and Library Board and then the Southern Education and Library Board (SELB). She has continued to be a member of the Association of Educational Psychologists.   In 1998 Clare became a Senior Educational Psychologist with responsibilities for the Behaviour Support Team in the Southern Education and Library Board.  In 2002, she was promoted to Assistant Senior Education Officer in the SELB with responsibility for a range of children and young people’s services. Since 2006 Clare has worked across the Southern Education & Library Board and Western Education & Library Board areas as Head of Children and Young People’s Services with a key focus on promoting the development of services and provision.

 

Hugh McKenna

Dr Hugh McKenna, is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences at the University of Ulster. Within his role he is responsible for all the teaching and research in Nursing, midwifery, the therapy professions, general practice, sports studies, biomedical science, psychology and environmental science. He qualified as a mental health nurse in 1975 and a general nurse in 1982 and over a sixteen year period. He has held positions at clinical and managerial level. He has over 200 publications including 10 books and over £2.5 million in grants. He has supervised 15 PhD students to successful completion. He is an editor of ‘international journal of nursing studies’ and has many prestigious awards for his work including Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN), Fellow of the European Academy of Nursing (FEAN) and Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, (FRCSI).In 2008 the Queen made him a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his work on health and community. The same year he was Chair of the 2008 UK Research Assessment Exercise which made decisions on the allocation of several millions of pounds to nursing Schools in the UK for their research. Her Majesty also made him Honorary Colonel of 253 Medical Regiment. He sits on national/international committees for three charities, four research funding bodies and five editorial boards. In 2009 he was awarded the University’s Senior Distinguished Research Fellowship and was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) – only the third nurse in Europe to be given this honour.  More recently, he is a non executive member of the Patient and Client Council which acts as a voice for patients in health care.

 

Steve O'Brien

Stephen O’Brien has lived in supported housing provided by Niamh for approximately 18 years. Prior to this Steve worked as a Shop Steward in a factory environment. Steve has been involved in various aspects of Niamh's work for a number of years including assisting with recruitment, and in the internal inspection of services. Steve has also attended various courses including achieving a Food Hygiene Certificate. Steve previously was involved with the Board of NSF for eight years. His main hobbies include cooking and photography.