Grainia Long, Chief Executive

Grainia Long is the Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the strategic housing authority for Northern Ireland and one of the largest publically owned social landlords in Europe.
 
Previously, Grainia was the Commissioner for Resilience for the city of Belfast, and co-Chaired the Belfast Climate Commission.

Grainia was also the Chief Executive of the National Child Protection Charity in the Republic of Ireland, ISPCC Childline. This position followed several years working in housing, including as Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), and previously National Director of the CIH in Northern Ireland. 
 
She has served two terms as a member of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, was a member of the Lyons Commission on Housing Supply and Advisor to the Best Commission on the Future of Housing in Northern Ireland. 

With extensive experience as a Non-Executive Director, she spent six years as Senior Independent Director at Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Trust, a social housing provider in England.

Grainia is currently a Board Member of the CEF (Chief Executive’s Forum), and is Chair of Business in the Community Northern Ireland (BITICNI) Environmental Leadership Team.

Paul Isherwood, Director of Asset Management
Paul joined the Housing Executive as Director of Asset Management in June 2015 to head up the newly created Asset Management Directorate having previously been the Director of Property Services in Helm Housing.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Building. He has over 25 years' social housing experience within property maintenance and asset management within a local authority and housing association context.

Paul began his career with Great Grimsby Council and over the years has held various technical and managerial roles within the property maintenance/asset management environment.

Through these various roles he has gained significant experience in the areas of asset management, project management, building safety, sustainability and procurement.

David Moore, Director of Corporate Services
David joined the Housing Executive in May 2019 as the Director of Corporate Services.

He is a chartered fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development with over 25 years' experience in the public sector and consultancy. He currently has responsibility for Corporate Planning, Performance, Governance and Equality.

He is also responsible for the Human Resources and Organisational Development, Legal Services and Communications function for the organisation.

Catherine McFarland, CPFA, MA, MSC, Director of Finance, Audit and Assurance
Catherine is the Director of Finance, Audit and Assurance at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive which includes responsibility for the delivery of the Housing Benefit service for Northern Ireland, and ICT.

She is the Chair of the Leadership and Engagement Committee for the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Community Planning partnership and was recently Chair of Chartered institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, Northern Ireland.

She has also been a guest lecturer for the last eight years on the MSc in Leadership and innovation delivered by the Ulster University.

Jennifer Hawthorne, Director for Housing Services
Since joining the Housing Executive in 1978, Jennifer has worked in a number of roles, most recently as Regional Manager for Belfast.

She has undertaken a variety of roles throughout her career, including Assistant Manager for the Shankill area and Public Relations Manager for Belfast.

She also headed up the Community Cohesion division for ten years, with major accomplishments including the development of shared housing and peace wall barrier removal programmes. In 2015 Jennifer was awarded an OBE for her work with the transformation of post conflict communities.

Elma Newberry is the Director of the Strategic Housing Authority for Northern Ireland, within the Housing Executive.

She has over 40 years’ experience working in public housing in Northern Ireland with a particular focus on transforming communities post-conflict, ensuring public housing has a key role within housing-led regeneration and more recently leading the Housing Executive’s Sustainable Development Strategy.

She currently plays a lead role within Community Planning and Place Making with local Councils.

Nicole Lappin is Chair of the Housing Executive.

Nicole Lappin is a collaborative leader who is passionate about effective governance improving the delivery of public sector services.  She has expertise in regulation and governance, including education, health, justice, finance and the charity sector. She has led on changing Board governance structures and in overseeing an organisation transition from five separate bodies into a single entity. Transformation of service delivery has been central to the organisations she has served.

Nicole qualified as a Barrister from King’s Inns Dublin and practised in both Dublin and Belfast for five years.  In 2015, she was an Inaugural Board Member of the Education Authority.  In 2017, she was appointed as an Independent Board Member of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, and she currently chairs its Audit and Risk committee. Also in 2017, she was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority in Dublin where she chaired its Audit committee.  In 2018, she was appointed Chair of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and, in 2019, she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.  Last year Nicole became Chair of the Public Sector Chairs Forum, where she works alongside colleagues across the public sector.

Having served as a School Governor for over fifteen years, Nicole is delighted to be working in corporate governance, overseeing the delivery of public services in important areas such as health, education, justice, financial and charity regulation and now housing.  Married, with three children, Nicole has many interests outside governance and is a keen amateur photographer.  She is looking forward to meeting and working with new colleagues as she takes up her role with the Housing Executive.

Mrs Jacqueline Dixon

Mrs Jacqueline Dixon was the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council from 2015 until her retirement in 2023. In this role, she was responsible for the corporate governance arrangements of the Council, and for progressing key financial management and budgeting decisions, including obtaining maximum benefits of the Belfast City Region Deal.

She led on a range of key strategic objectives for the Council, with a focus on putting the customer first. She also brings a range of partnership and collaborative working skills to the Board. She has had no political activity within the last five years and holds no other public appointments at present.

Councillor Keith Kerrigan

Councillor Kerrigan is a Democratic Unionist Party elected representative in the Derry City and Strabane District Council, and sits on its Policing and Community Safety Partnership Board.

He is actively involved in a number of local community groups and organisations. He brings a range of and experiences to the board including strategic vision and decision-making skills. He does not currently hold any other public appointments.

Pauline Leeson CBE

Pauline Leeson CBE is Chief Executive of Children in Northern Ireland.

She trained and qualified as a Social Worker and has worked in children’s services in Wales and Northern Ireland.  She is a Non - Executive Director in Southern Health and Social Care Trust and an Independent Member in Lisburn and Castlereagh Policing and Community Safety Partnership.  

She is a Member of the Housing Executive’s Asset Management and Maintenance Committee and the Resources & Performance Committee.

Councillor Stephen McIlveen

Stephen is a qualified solicitor, which includes running his own practice, and is a barrister with over 15 years’ post qualification experience. He has been a Councillor for Newtownards since 2011, and DUP Group Leader on Ards and North Down Borough Council.

In this role he has experience of working in partnership and collaboratively with a range of stakeholders, experience of which he brings to the NIHE Board. He holds no other public appointments.

Mr Niall Sheridan

Mr Niall Sheridan is a career housing professional with over 37 years’ experience within the social housing sector across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Most recently he was the Group Director of Development & Asset Management at Choice Housing Ireland ltd.

He brings experience of strategic and operational delivery of capital development and asset management programmes to the Board. He also has a range of governance experience garnered from a number of non-executive director roles on voluntary boards. He has had no political activity within the last five years and holds no other public appointments.

Councillor Deirdre Varsani

Councillor Varsani has been a Sinn Fein Councillor for Dungannon, Mid Ulster since 2023. As well as a full member of Council, she sits on a range of Committees and groups, for example the Planning Committee, Environment Committee, Policing and Community Safety Partnership and is the Housing Council representative for Mid Ulster Council.

She has over 25 years’ experience as a teacher, at various levels and in various settings, working with others to develop the ethos and vision for a range of schools and organisations. She holds no other public appointments.

Mr Chris Welch

Chris Welch has over 30 years’ experience in the housing sector, specialising in asset management and construction related services with a range of local authority and housing association providers.

He has worked extensively at head of service level and has held director level posts with Acclaim Group and Waterloo Housing through which he has experience of contributing to planning and implementation of strategy and operational responses.

Chris has experience of leading strategic reviews, streamlining processes and implementing improved management systems.

He is currently employed by Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, is a former Trustee of Inspire North and a former Trustee of York CVS.

He is the Chair of the Housing Executive’s Asset Management & Maintenance Committee.