Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Edwin Poots today welcomed the appointment of three new members on the CAFRE College Advisory Group (CAFRE CAG). Barclay Bell has been appointed as Member representing the Arable/Crops Sector; Deborah O’Hare representing the Education Sector; and Elaine Willis representing the Food Processing Sector.
The role of the Group is to provide advice at a strategic and operational level to the management team of CAFRE. It was established in January 2007 and reports to the College Director, Martin McKendry. In carrying out its work, the Group takes full account of Departmental policies and strategies.
The successful candidates have been appointed by the Department for an initial period of three years from 1 January 2022. They are all well-known and respected in their chosen fields.
Minister Poots said: “I welcome the appointments of Mr Bell, Mrs O’Hare and Mrs Willis. The Advisory Group plays an important role in helping CAFRE deliver excellent services to the farming and Agri-Food sectors and I’m sure that the wealth of experience brought by these new members will enable CAFRE to continue to be recognised as a world leader in Agri-Food education provision.”
Minister Poots wished them well in these important roles and thanked the outgoing members, Mr Allan Chambers and Professor David McDowell for their contributions to the CAFRE CAG.
Notes to editors:
1. The College Advisory Group:
i. Makes recommendations regarding the development of the College Strategic Business Plan to meet the needs of industry, participants and the community in line with the DAERA Vision and Strategic Goals and its policies on education and technology transfer;
ii. Monitors the programmes delivered by the College and makes recommendations regarding their relevance to the DAERA Strategic Goals and their effectiveness in meeting the needs of industry, participants and the community;
iii. Monitors the delivery of the College Strategic Business Plan, including achievement of physical and financial targets, and value for money and makes recommendations on how performance could be improved;
iv. Advises the College on the marketing and promotion of programmes to secure optimum industry and community involvement in the development, delivery and uptake of programmes.
2. Barclay Bell has considerable experience in the Agriculture Industry, farming an 8th generation farm at Rathfriland, County Down, with the enterprises including cereals, sheep, and beef cattle. Diversification has also played a role on the farm with a cut flower enterprise and wind turbine. Mr Bell is an experienced Board member, a Past President of the UFU (2016-2018), current member of the UFU Seeds and Cereal Committee, Chair of the NFU Regional Board and a Trustee of the Air Ambulance NI. He is also Vice-Chair of the Ulster Arable Society and Chair of the Arable sub-group of the Greenhouse Gas Implementation Partnership as well as a member of an Arable and Environmental Business Development Group.
3. Deborah O’Hare has been Principal of The Wallace High School, Lisburn since 2009. Previously she was Principal of Portadown College and has held a range of leadership positions in Antrim Grammar School, Methodist College and Banbridge Academy. She has a BA honours degree in French, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, a Master’s degree in Educational Management and a Professional Qualification in Headship (PQHNI). Deborah is a former President of the Association of Schools and College Leaders, Northern Ireland (ASCLNI); a former member of the Education Committee of the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), and is a regular contributor to consultations on a range of education, mental health and financial policy across primary, post-primary, FE and HE sectors. She is a current Board Member of the South Eastern Regional College (SERC) where she is Deputy Chair of The Education Committee and a member of The Audit and Risk Committee.
4. Elaine Willis has over 25 years of experience in the Agri-Food Processing Industry and is currently the Retail Operations Director in the Linden Food Ltd (2016-present), part of the ABP Food Group, which supplies red meat products to major retailers and Food Service businesses. She has responsibility for the management of two food processing sites at Linden Retail, Dungannon and Kettyle Irish Foods, Lisnaskea; with a total of 350 employees. Her responsibilities encompass everything from sales and marketing strategy for key retail customers to Operations, Technical, Health and Safety, Planning, Supply Chain and Purchasing, New Product Development and Innovation, People Management, Training and Development, as well as Sustainability Strategy implementation. She has a BSc Hons Degree in Food Science and Technology from Loughry College and was previously the Head of Innovation and Business Development at Linden Food Group (2007-2016).
5. None of the above recently appointed members have had an affiliation with a political party or had involvement in political activity during the last five years.
6. These appointments were made in accordance with the Departments statutory equality duties under section 75. Also, in line with the Department’s published commitments in its Audit of Inequalities, DAERA took all necessary steps to address under-representation on its CAFRE College Advisory Group.
7. The period of appointment is initially for three years. A payment is made for each meeting attended and expenses are available for travelling costs and childcare costs.
8. Follow DAERA on Twitter and Facebook.
9. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office.
10. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hour’s 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.