Our Board

John Healy OBE is a highly experienced senior executive with 30 years of experience in the technology sector, mostly gained in the financial service industry. He has extensive experience in leading global teams, developing strategy and delivering solutions to address business and technology issues.

He was the Managing Director of Allstate NI, where he served from January 2016 to December 2022. Before Allstate John held the position of Service Centre Head for Citi’s near shore technology and operations centre in Belfast.

John has been Chair of the Software Alliance, the industry-led representative voice of the £1.7 billion software industry in Northern Ireland, Chair of the Fellowship Advisory Board at the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and most recently a member of the Council of Ulster University.  

He currently serves on several boards including the Progressive Building Society and Business in the Community. John was also recently appointed as Chair of the Board of FinTrU. He is past-President of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

Dominic has 25 years of experience in food retailing and manufacturing both in GB and NI. His previous roles include Head of Food Technology and Head of Innovation at Marks and Spencer in London and at Finnebrogue in Northern Ireland.  

He has a BSc in Food Science, MSc in Agri Food Business Development and is a Fellow of the Institute of food Technology.  

In his current role as Technical and Innovation Director for fast growing food to go manufacturer Around Noon Foods, he is responsible for the food safety and innovation strategies for five factories across NI and GB.  

He has 12 years of experience as an Education Authority appointed Board of Governor for Brefne Integrated Nursery School.

Melanie Dawson began her career in construction in 2004, later choosing to specialise in BIM (building information modelling), digital construction and transformation for the last 10 years.  

Melanie worked for a number of leading construction and consulting firms operating across Norther Ireland, UK and Ireland before choosing to establish her own digital construction consultancy business in August 2020, Origin7 Ltd. Melanie is a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Melanie works with the Strategic Investment Board for Northern Ireland as an associate advisor and is a non-executive board member of BuildData Group who provide construction software and consulting.

She has a passion for digital transformation and improving productivity in construction through standardisation and applying a data driven approach.  

She holds no other public appointments.

Fiona brings strong commercial leadership and hands-on operational experience to Invest Northern Ireland, alongside a deep understanding of supply chains and cross-border trade.

As Co-Owner and Director of Derry Group Ireland, Fiona operates across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with a footprint in Armagh, Dublin and Cork. Through this role, she has developed expert knowledge in the movement of goods across both jurisdictions and east–west trade, working closely with producers, retailers, logistics providers and wider supply chain partners.

Her experience provides a practical insight into the challenges and opportunities facing businesses, including navigating regulatory requirements, maintaining resilient supply chains, and supporting growth across domestic and export markets. She brings a clear understanding of operating in a complex trading environment and the importance of competitiveness and adaptability and she has shown leadership in bringing the issues of business to government from Stormont and Whitehall, to Brussels.

A qualified solicitor, Fiona holds degrees from University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. Her legal background complements her commercial experience, bringing strong governance, analytical and strategic capability.

Fiona is committed to supporting sustainable economic growth, creating opportunities for young people, and strengthening Northern Ireland’s economy for future generations.

She does not hold any other public appointments. 

Emma has over 20 years’ experience in enterprise development and economic growth across Northern Ireland, spanning grassroots delivery through to strategic leadership and governance.

As Chief Executive of Mallusk Enterprise Park, she leads a social enterprise supporting over 60 SMEs and start-ups, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship, business growth and regional economic development. She has extensive experience working with early-stage entrepreneurs, micro-businesses and scaling SMEs, as well as designing and delivering enterprise support programmes that drive growth and competitiveness.

She has significant board and governance experience, currently serving as a Director of Enterprise Northern Ireland, where she has been elected twice and contributes to strategic oversight through governance and future structures committees. She is also a member of her local Labour Market Partnership and Local Enterprise Partnership boards, providing insight into skills development, workforce challenges and regional economic priorities.

Her experience spans both operational delivery and strategic influence, with a particular interest in aligning skills development, entrepreneurship and economic growth. She has led organisational transformation, strengthening financial sustainability, governance frameworks and long-term growth planning within a social enterprise context.

She is committed to supporting inclusive economic growth and strengthening Northern Ireland’s enterprise ecosytem.

She does not hold any other public appointments.

Dawn McLaughlin is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland having trained and qualified with PwC. In 2005 she established Dawn McLaughlin & Co, a practice located in the North West City Region. For the past 39 years Dawn has specialised in advising start-up companies and small to medium size enterprises throughout the UK and Ireland.

Dawn is a Non-Executive Director with Invest NI and chairs the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC).

She is a Trustee on the Board of Governors of St John’s Primary School in Derry having previously served for twelve years as the Department of Education NI representative.

Representing the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Dawn sits on the Cross Border Partnership for Employment Services (CBPES).

Past activities include President of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Institute of Management - North West Ulster Branch and member of the Regional Board for Northern Ireland. She was also on the Member Services Committee of the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants Ireland as the North West representative and a member of the Board of the local Leadership Team of Business in the Community.

She was founder member of the Support My Business NI Initiative providing mentoring and workshops on a pro bono basis to Northern Ireland businesses and was awarded the Derry City Council Woman of the Year Award for her contribution to Enterprise.

She does not hold any other public appointments.

Having retired from a successful career in business in 2022, Ciaran took up his role as a Non-Executive Director of Invest NI in the same year. He is also a former Chair of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Ciaran previously served as a non-executive director of Londonderry Port and Harbour Commission, Altnagelvin Hospital Trust and the Western Health and Social Care Trust. He was educated at Queens University Belfast and has a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership from Napier University Edinburgh.  

He holds no other public appointments.

With over 20 years of experience, Patrick has led on over £1bn of real estate investment as both developer, investor and consultant throughout the UK and Europe. He has extensive experience in varied real estate investment structures and a wide network across international capital markets. In his former role as Head of Capital Markets in Central & Eastern Europe for CBRE and since 2013 at Bywater, Patrick has a proven track record of building and managing best in class real estate teams.  

Patrick leads the investment strategy and structuring for the business as well as investor relations. He is also a regular industry commentator on investment issues.

Patrick holds no other public appointments.

Julie-Ann has worked for 28 years in the Northern Ireland corporate banking sector.

Her career at Bank of Ireland spanned a period of strong economic growth as well as one of significant downturn in the economy during the global financial crisis.

She developed expertise in business modelling, commercial due diligence, scenario planning, stress testing and strategic investment analysis.

In 2017, Julie-Ann moved to private industry working with the UK and Ireland’s largest diagnostic company, Randox Laboratories Limited.

During the past 5 years she has further developed her experience across commercial, legal, financial and healthcare disciplines, extending her experience to international markets.

A law graduate from Queen’s University Belfast, Julie-Ann holds a diploma in Accounting & Finance from Ulster University and the Certified Director Designation from the Institute of Banking and University College Dublin.

She holds no other public appointments.

Máirtín has been involved in community media with the Belfast Media Group and Irish Echo for five decades.

A journalist and author of books both in Irish and English, he served as a Sinn Féin council member in Belfast City Hall from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2011 to 2014. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2013 to 2014.
He moved to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2015 and served as Finance Minister in the Stormont Executive in 2016 before stepping back from front-line politics in December 2020. 

He is co-founder of Aisling Events, which organises regular transatlantic conferences including the New York-New Belfast Conference and the Belfast International Homecoming.

Máirtín is a graduate of QUB and the proud recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, USA.

He is married to Helen O'Hare, and they have four grown-up children.

He does not hold any other public appointments.

Scott has extensive experience in Business Start Up and high growth Scale Up companies having worked in several executive positions in the Global Telecoms & IT sectors.

Founder of BSO Network Solutions in London during the credit crunch of 2008 specialising in low latency trading infrastructure and helped to develop High Frequency Trading Platforms for a number of banks trading global capital & commodities markets. He continues to have an interest and investments in the burgeoning FinTech sector. Having returned to Northern Ireland after 20 years working overseas, Scott invested in the local telecoms market to develop a UK wide telecoms company which he exited in 2018.

Scott continues to work as an investor, advisor, and mentor to a variety of companies in Northern Ireland. He continues as an executive Director of 2 companies and is also a keen support of the charity Co-Operation Ireland with which he has a long history.

He holds no other public appointments.

Peter is the CEO of the West Belfast Partnership Board which, is a Belfast Area Partnership, a registered charity, a community development organisation, a social economy and a company limited by guarantee.

He has been a community activist for over 20 years and previously worked in Tar Anall and The Blackie River Community Group.

He sits on several boards including:

• The Falls Community Council
• The Belfast Labour Market Partnership
• The Local Economic Partnership
• Belfast City Council’s Community Planning Partnership
• Belfast City Council’s Our Planet Board
• Belfast City Council’s Connectivity, Active & Sustainable Travel working group
• Development Trust NI
• NICVA, (Council for Voluntary Action).

He does not hold any other public appointments.

Andrew brings over 25 years’ experience in economic policy, strategy and investment, working with governments, economic development agencies and private sector clients across the UK, Ireland and internationally.

A former business owner and, most recently, Chief Economist at Grant Thornton, he is Managing Director, Economics at OCO Global, where he leads the firm’s economic advisory practice. His work focuses on regional growth strategy, investment appraisal, sector development and public policy evaluation, supporting major investment programmes and place-based economic strategies.

Andrew is Chair of Belfast City Centre Management and a board member of Action Renewables Energy Trading, and serves as a Parent Governor at Ashfield Girls’ High School. He has also held a range of advisory roles across economic development and regeneration, with experience supporting net zero and sustainability-related initiatives.

He is a regular commentator on economic issues, contributing analysis on regional growth, infrastructure, trade and investment across broadcast and print media.

Andrew holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and a Masters in Applied Economics.

He does not hold any other public appointments.

• Provides overall leadership to, and ensures the effectiveness of, the Board
• Sets the agenda, character and tone of Board meetings and discussions
• Maintains an effective working relationship with the Chief Executive
• Leads the annual performance evaluation of the Board and its Committees and ensures all Board members make an effective contribution
• Ensures effective communication with the Minister / Department
• Assists the Board in understanding stakeholders’, including Departmental / Ministerial, views
• Represents the views of the Board in public / stakeholder forums as required

• Supports and deputises for the Chair as required
• Assists the Chief Executive in developing strategy
• A mentor for new Board members or Committee Chairs

• Acts as a sounding board for the Chair and a trusted intermediary for other Board members
• Available to stakeholders to discuss any concerns that cannot be resolved through the normal Chair or Chief Executive channels
• Leads Board in an annual performance evaluation of the Chair

• Sets the strategic / corporate plan within the context of PfG and Departmental policy
• Ensures an appropriate operational and governance framework is in place to deliver strategic objectives
• Monitors and scrutinises Invest NI performance against its strategic goals and financial plans
• Brings an objective perspective to Board deliberations and decision-making, drawing on collective broad experience and individual expertise / insights
• Plays a lead role in the functioning of Board Committees
• Monitors and assesses Invest NI culture, using appropriate, effective means to engage with staff and acquire an understanding of stakeholders’ views
• Monitors and assesses the effectiveness of, support and constructively challenge, the Executive Leadership Team

• Leads in the development of Corporate Strategy and annual Operating Plans for consideration and approval of Board
• Fulfils all the responsibilities of being Invest NI’s Accounting Officer
• Provides effective leadership to the Executive Committee (ExCo) in their delivery of strategy
• Responsible for the effective management of all Invest NI operations
• Manages, with ExCo, relationships with key stakeholders, customers and suppliers, and leads the workforce
• Communicates progress against strategy and high-level operational performance to Board and stakeholders
• Embodies Invest NI’s culture, vision and values ‘from the top’

• Acts as the corporate expert, providing advice and support to Chair, Executive, Board, individual Board members and Committees on a broad range of best-practice corporate governance and compliance issues
• Responsible, with the Chair, for setting the agenda for Board and Committee meetings and for high quality and timely information and communication between the Board and its Committees, and between the Board members and Executive Leadership as required
• Works with the Chair to set the agenda, style and tone of Board meetings and discussions promote effective decision-making and constructive debate
• Will intervene if the Chair, Board, Committees or Board members are at risk of acting outside their powers or the spirit of agreed Board governance procedures
• Manages all administration associated with Board meetings

The Audit & Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) supports the Invest NI Accounting Officer and Board on governance issues and assurance arrangements within the operational and governance framework set by the Board and the Department for the Economy.  

Members  

Dawn McLaughlin – Chair

Julie-Ann O'Hare – Member

Ciaran Mulgrew – Member

Colin Coffey – Member

Michael McQuillan – Member 

The Business Funding Committee (BFC) provides support, advice, and recommendations to the Board by monitoring and reviewing the key funding streams and related programmes.  

Members

Julie-Ann O'Hare – Member

Colin Coffey – Chair

Michael McQuillan – Member

Patrick O'Gorman – Member

Dominic Darby – Member

Scott Ritchie – Member 

The Strategic Resources Committee (SRC) provides support and advice to the Board by monitoring and reviewing the key decision making relating to Financial Management, People Resources, Communications, Digital, Information Technology and Data Management. The SRC will ensure appropriate oversight of all strategic resource planning and delivery.  

Members

Marie-Therese McGivern – Member

Ciaran Mulgrew – Chair

Patrick O'Gorman – Member

Dominic Darby – Member

Melanie Dawson – Member

Scott Ritchie – Member 

The Executive Performance Assessment Committee (EPAC) sets the targets/performance indicators, against which the performance of the CEO is assessed and measured.

Members

John Healy – Chair

Dawn McLaughlin – Member

Colin Coffey – Member