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11 March 2009

PRESS RELEASE

AC02/08/09

ASSEMBLY APPOINTMENTS

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission has announced the appointment of two independent members to its Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee.

Mr Alan McQuillan, who will chair the Committee, is the former Director of the Assets Recovery Agency while Mr Colm McKenna is a retired senior official of the Bank of Ireland, who currently serves as Chair of the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.

Speaker of the Assembly and Chairman of the Commission, Mr William Hay MLA, said, “The Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee provides essential support to both the Commission and the Director General in relation to the governance of the Assembly Secretariat.

“Both Alan McQuillan and Colm McKenna are highly experienced. They will play an important independent and objective role in scrutinising and challenging the Secretariat’s governance procedures and, in particular, its management of risk. I welcome their appointment and I look forward to working with them.”

The appointees will take up their posts before the end of March 2009.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The appointments of two independent members to the Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee give effect to one of the recommendations in the NI Assembly Secretariat Review Report published in October 2007.

Biographical Notes

Alan McQuillan was Acting Deputy Chief Constable when, in 2003, he retired to join the newly formed Assets Recovery Agency. He helped establish and develop the Agency across the UK and in 2007 was appointed as Director to manage its merger with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. He has also worked on a voluntary basis with a number of third sector organisations in Northern Ireland. Mr McQuillan now operates as an independent management and security consultant, working mainly for clients in Northern Ireland. He has also undertaken a number of international training assignments for the European Union. Alan McQuillan holds a BSC (Hons) Degree in Physics from Queens University in Belfast and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ulster. He is a member of the Institute of Directors.

Colm McKenna enjoyed a long and successful career in Financial Services, being employed by the Bank of Ireland since 1979 until his early retirement on 1 October 2008. His final position was Head of Marketing Services UK, but he previously held the position of Head of Group Marketing NI and Head of Treasury and International Banking. Mr McKenna was previously a member and Deputy Chair of Investment Belfast (Belfast City Council) and member and Chair of NI Euro Preparations Forum (DETI). In October 2008 he was appointed Chair of the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. He is a Business Administration Graduate from Manchester Business School.

For further information contact Ms Debra Savage, Northern Ireland Assembly, Press Office, Room B2, Parliament Buildings, Belfast, BT4 3XX.

Telephone: 028 9052 1405
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