Extension to the Chair and Board Members of the Livestock and Meat Commission

DAERA Minister Edwin Poots MLA, today announced that he has extended the appointment of Gerard McGivern, Chair, and four members of the Board of Livestock and Meat Commission, Mr. Harry Sinclair, Ms. Oonagh Chesney, Mr. Jim Lennon and Mr. Gerry Maguire, for a period of three months.

The extended terms take effect from 7 May 2022, and will ensure the LMC Board remains functional with the appropriate retention of experience and skills, until a new Chair and Board members can be appointed from the public appointment competition which is currently underway to fill the positions.

This decision has been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.  Mr. McGivern was first appointed as Chair on 7 November 2015. Mr. Harry Sinclair, Ms. Oonagh Chesney and Mr. Jim Lennon were first appointed as Board members on 1 July 2015. Mr. Gerry Maguire was first appointed as a Board member on 22 October 2015.

Notes to editors: 

1. The LMC was established under the Livestock Marketing Commission Act (NI) 1967.  It is an Executive Non Departmental Public Body and is sponsored by DAERA.  The main duty of the LMC, as stated in the 1967 Act, is to examine and recommend improvements in the marketing of livestock and livestock products.
2. Mr. McGivern is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Institute of Economic Development.  He has been involved at a senior level in a number of district councils in various marketing and development roles and has led numerous cross border initiatives.  He is Vice Chairman of Banbridge District Enterprises Ltd, and a Non-Executive Director of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.
3. Mr. Harry Sinclair is a suckler cow, beef and sheep farmer producing Aberdeen Angus beef for premium markets and lamb for the UK markets.  As a past President of the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), he has extensive experience of advocacy on behalf of the farming community.  He has served as Chairman of the UFU’s Hill Farming and Beef and Lamb Committees and is a founder member and current Chairman of the NI Farm Safety Partnership.  He has served as Vice-President of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations (“COPA”) and has represented the UK on the EU Commission’s Sheep and Beef Advisory Committees.  He has also served as Chairman of AgriSearch’s Beef Committee and as a producer representative on the Red Meat Taskforce.  He brings significant experience of working on policy committees to the Board of the LMC.  Mr. Sinclair is a board member of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) where he has served as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
4. Ms. Oonagh Chesney is Company Secretary for Fane Valley Co-op Society Ltd and its group subsidiary companies.  She has an active role in the family beef farming business.  She combines corporate governance experience with a good understanding of the challenges facing the LMC and will bring her experience of red meat production and processing to the Board of the LMC.  Ms. Chesney holds no other public appointments.
5. Mr. Jim Lennon was appointed to the LMC Board in July 2015.  Mr. Lennon is a beef farmer specialising in the production of Aberdeen Angus cattle.  He is also involved in the Derrynoose Farming Community Group which promotes investment and training in livestock production.  He has significant wider senior public sector experience shown in both his current role as Head of Corporate Service for Middletown Centre for Autism and various senior roles in the National Health Service.  He has also been involved in local economic and social regeneration matters.
6. Mr. Gerry Maguire was appointed to the LMC Board in October 2015.  Mr. Maguire has 37 years’ experience in the Red Meat processing industry.  He is currently Managing Director of Linden Foods.  He is directly responsible for the Linden Foods Group which has an annual turnover of £400million.  He is also Director of Slaney Foods and has previously served three years on Bord Bia’s Meat and Livestock Board.
7. The LMC Chair position is remunerated at £17,315 per annum.
8. LMC Board Member positions are remunerated at £6,485 per annum.
9. Political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. The appointees have not been involved in any political activity during the past five years.
10. These extensions comply with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Northern Ireland’s ‘Code of Practice’.
11. Follow DAERA on Twitter and Facebook.
12. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk
13. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110

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