The Council has a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and ten members appointed following ministerial approval.
Mr Richard Hill, Chairperson
Richard was appointed Chairperson of the Consumer Council from 1 January 2009. He currently serves as Chair of Northern Ireland Screen Commission, Chair of Consumer Focus Post, Northern Ireland and an ex-officio member of the Consumer Focus Board. Richard is a former Minister of Garnerville Presbyterian Church, Belfast. He is a former member of the BBC Audience Council for Northern Ireland and BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland.
Mandy Patrick, MBE – Deputy Chair
Mandy Patrick is a Director of the Park Avenue Hotel, a family business started by her grandparents over 50 years ago. She has previously represented the hotel sector on the Board of the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and in 2003 she was appointed to the Board of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board where she served two terms, she then served three years on the Board of Tourism Ireland who have the responsibility of marketing the island of Ireland. Mandy was asked to join the Board of East Belfast Partnership in 2005 and is a member of the Executive Committee chairs the Tourism Sub Group. In October 2011, Mandy was elected Vice President to the Board of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, a member organisation. Mandy is a DENI appointed Governor of Glendu Nursery School. In 2010 Mandy was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday List with an MBE for her contribution to tourism.
Mr Colm Bradley
Colm is Director of Community Technical Aid (CTA). He served on the Local Government Taskforce Community Planning Working Group and DRD's External Stakeholder Group on the Assessment of Regional Development Strategy. He is a former Chairperson of the North Belfast Partnership Board and member of the Board of the Laganside Corporation.
David Beattie BA MIB
After leaving school, David commenced employment in Northern Bank where he spent 14 years before joining the Ulster Bank in the late 90's as Marketing Strategy Manager. He has since occupied a number of Senior roles within Ulster Bank and more recently was the Head of Tesco Bank in Ireland, based in Dublin. As a marketing professional David has also won a number of National Awards for innovation and marketing execution.
David has been involved in a number of charitable groups over the years, has a keen interest in all sports and lists rugby as his sporting passion.
David Galloway
David is a Senior Manager with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), having previously worked in a number of senior management posts in the DHSSPS. He has a BA in Business Studies and in 2008 undertook an executive leadership programme at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.
Deirdre Fitzpatrick
Deirdre runs a business consultancy practice which she established in 1990. She carries out work for the private, public, community and voluntary sectors. She also set up a property management company in 2001 and sold her share in 2004. Prior to that, she set up Northern Ireland’s first business incubation centre. She is currently a voluntary member of a youth club management committee and a school governor.
Jill Gillespie
Mrs Gillespie worked as a corporate lawyer for the Northern Bank from 1993-2002 managing the legal risk of the Bank through the provision of legal advice to line management and staff. From 2002-2008 she was a solicitor in the firm of Patterson Donnelly, Solicitors, specializing in bulk remortgaging for High Street lenders. Currently, she is a board member of Reconnect involved in corporate governances and strategic planning. Mrs Gillespie is also a member of the NI Social Care Council Conduct Committee.
Mr Kit Chivers
Kit was the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland from the formation of the office in August 2003 to August 2008. Prior to that he worked as Chief Inspector of the Courts in England and Wales and the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service for five years and from 1968-1998 he held a range of posts in HM Treasury. He is currently a Commissioner in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
Mr Lee Wilson
Lee lives in Lurgan and worked in a range of managerial roles in the Finance Directorate of Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust between 1988 and 2008. He has a BA Hons in Business Studies and an MA in Admin and Law and is currently studying for a postgraduate degree in Social and Community Development at QUB.
He is a member of the Southern Local Advisory Committee of the Patient and Client Council and a lay member of the N.I. Social Care Council Conduct Committee. He is also a volunteer with N.I. Chest Heart and Stroke following a stroke in 2003. His interest include fishing, cycling and reading.
Dr Margaret Ward
Dr Ward was a Research Fellow in history at Bath Spa University from 1993-1999 and Assistant Director responsible for fundraising and policy development at Democratic Dialogue between 2000 and 2005. Currently, she is Director of the Women’s Resource and Development Agency, responsible for strategic planning, advocacy, financial management and staff management. Dr Ward was an executive member of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition from 2004 until it’s dissolution in May 2006.
Sam Snodden FCA
Sam is a Chartered Accountant and lives in Carrickfergus. He trained in a major Belfast firm of Chartered Accountants before running his own professional accountancy practice. Sam has spent 23 years working in the Health Service in a range of senior finance posts, including Director of Finance for the Southern Health and Social Services Board. Sam was also foremost in the development of corporate governance in the health service for a number of years.
Having taken early retirement in 2010, Sam now works as Finance Officer for the Girls’ Brigade Northern Ireland. Sam is also involved as a committee member for the Chartered Accountants Ireland Ulster Society and was Chair of their public sector group.
Outside of work Sam is a keen amateur photographer and plays guitar in a church praise band.
Mrs Sarah Havlin LLB
Sarah is a Solicitor by profession having practiced law in private practice for 12 years, until taking a career break from practice in 2007 to concentrate on other interests. She is now a self-employed free lance legal consultant. Her current interests and consultancy work include a number of Ministerial Appointments and advisory work and third level teaching. She is a Legal Member of the Independent Appeals Panel for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chair of the Agricultural Wages Board of Northern Ireland, a Legal Chair of the Exceptional Circumstances Tribunal for the Department of Education, representative of the South Eastern Education and Library Board on the Board of Governors for St Columbanus' College, Bangor, part time tutor at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University and an Associate Lecturer in Law with the Open University. She was also appointed as Assistant Local Government Boundaries Commissioner for Northern Ireland by the Minister of the Environment in 2008-2009 and was assigned responsibility for the district of Belfast City under the process of the review of Local Government Boundaries in Northern Ireland. Sarah is the convenor of the Consumer Education and Money Affairs Policy Committee.
