Barry Phillips Meets Barry Phillips

The Lord Lieutenant Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle MBE CBE was born and brought up in Derry/Londonderry in the 60s and 70s. Destined for a career as an opera singer in the conservatoire he career aspirations were cut short by a debilitating illness.
Active for a while in student politics at Queen’s University what followed was a hugely successful career in Public and Government Affairs, setting up her own consultancy firm and heading up major initiatives including “Taste of Ulster”– the award winning worldwide campaign to promote food and hospitality from Northern Ireland.
In 1996 she founded the Belfast Buildings Trust helping to save and restore some key historic building in Belfast.
In 2,000 she was awarded an MBE and a CBE in 2,008. In 2014 she was appointed Lord Lieutenant representing Her Majesty the Queen in the County of Belfast following on from Dame Mary Peters.
In this wide ranging interview Fionnuala talks about the futility of one-sidedness and questions whether there is such a thing as certainty.
Time flies when you’re with this lady. Her warmth, her genuine interest in people and her search for understanding key issues in life make her compelling company.

The Poles first came to work in Northern Ireland in big numbers when Polish citizens were granted the right of free movement as EU members in May 2004.

Many found employment here and were grateful for any type of work for it was guaranteed to provide more money than they could expect to earn at home. They worked as cleaners for Robinsons or as labourers in Camden Frames, Sam Mouldings or on the assembly line at what was then Schrader or in construction during the mini boom in 2007-2009. Whilst some worked in the health service as nurses, carers or doctors large numbers were over qualified for the jobs they first took. But with limited English and no contacts here to many it was about getting on an early rung of the ladder and then making their way from there.

But the arrival of hundreds then thousands of Poles brought change to Northern Ireland. Suddenly, almost overnight, there was a sizeable third group of people. Sure Northern Ireland did have others groups of people such as the Indian and Chinese community but these were small in number, well settled and accepted. Journalists commented that since the Good Friday Agreement the two communities Protestant and Catholic so long in conflict might need another enemy and openly worried that they work look for one elsewhere. The Polish Community had closer connections to Britain than they did Ireland for their role in the British RAF is well documented. But largely Catholic by religion they may have expected a warmer welcome from the other side of the community.

What type of a welcome did they get from us in Northern Ireland? And how do they remember their first years here? I set out to find out…..

In this keynote address for ASCL delivered at the Birmingham conference and events centre, Barry Phillips, gives his views on how to deal with overwhelm in the workplace. He talks about turning "FOMO" into "JOMO", practising a "Slow Yes and a Quick No" and finishes with his favourite five ways to ensure you're highly effective at work every day.

Marie has just been recommended by the Secretary of State to succeed Dr. Michael Maguire as the next Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

She was the Assistant Information Commissioner for Northern Ireland for five years and Deputy Ombudsman for seven. She became the first ever Public Services Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in April 2016. She is also the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman.

In this remarkably frank interview she explains how being wrongly suspected of theft at school led her to develop an early interest in justice and human rights. She talks about the pressures of taking big decisions that will impact on the lives of many people and how she deals with the very public criticism she has to face in doing her work.

What she has to say about leadership is fascinating and should be required listening for everyone, public sector or private, wanting to develop their leadership schools.