The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Right Honourable
MP, has announced the
reappointment of two Commissioners (Lisa Caldwell and Stephen
Mathews) and a short-term extension to the appointment of Deputy
Chief Commissioner (Neil Anderson) to the Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland with effect from 1 March 2026.
In addition, he has announced the appointment of a new Deputy
Chief Commissioner ( Kennedy) and two Commissioners
(Kevin Doherty and Kristel Miller) to the Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland.
Background
The Equality Commission was established in 1999, as part of the
implementation of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. It took
over the functions of the Fair Employment Commission, Equal
Opportunities Commission, and Council for Racial Equality and
Northern Ireland Disability Council.
The Commission is responsible for policing the Statutory Duty on
all public authorities in Northern Ireland to have due regard to
the need to promote equality of opportunity across a range of
areas including religion, political opinion, gender, race, age,
marital status, sexual orientation, disability and those with and
without dependants. The Commission is funded and sponsored by The
Executive Office.
Further information about the work of the Commission can be found
here https://www.equalityni.org/Home.
Terms of Appointment - Commissioner
- All Commissioner positions are part-time for a period of
three years.
- Two Commissioners (Lisa Caldwell and Stephen Mathews) were
reappointed with effect from 1 March 2026 for a period of three
years.
- One Commissioner (Kevin Doherty) with effect from 5 March
2026 for a period of three years.
- One Commissioner (Kristel Miller) with effect from 1
September 2026 for a period of three years.
- The Commissioner position receives a fixed annual
remuneration of £5,000.
- The positions are not pensionable.
Terms of Appointment - Deputy Chief Commissioner
- The current Deputy Chief Commissioner (Neil Anderson) has
been extended for a six month period ending on 31 August
2026.
- A new appointment to the position of Deputy Chief
Commissioner ( Kennedy) with effect from 1
September 2026 for a period of three years.
- The position receives a fixed annual remuneration of £10,000.
- The position is not pensionable.
Biography of Appointees for the extension and the two
reappointments can be found on the Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland Website.
https://www.equalityni.org/HeaderLinks/About-Us/Our-structure#gsc.tab=0
Further biographies are outlined below:
Kennedy is currently Chief Executive
of Maplewood Estates Limited and Chairman of Jordan's Gift. He is
currently a member of the Review Tribunal for Northern Ireland,
the Appeals Tribunal, the Solicitors Complaints Committee and the
Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. He currently chairs the Audit
and Risk Committee for the Police Ombudsman for NI. Former roles
include Chief Executive of Lenken Healthcare Limited, The Mary
Peters Trust and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Football
League.
Kevin Doherty held the position as CEO of Rural Support and is a
part-time senior lecturer in Management and Leadership at North
West Regional College. He formerly held the position of Director
of Services and Chief Executive Officer of Disability Action NI
and has experience as a Board Member of the Participation,
Practice and Rights Project and former Chair of the DfC Active
Living Disability Strategy.
Kristel Miller currently holds the position of Professor of
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development at Ulster
University and is a Director of Innovation Ulster Limited. She is
the Principal Investigator and Director of EPIC Futures NI which
is a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded Policy Innovation
Partnership exploring how to enhance fair and inclusive
employment. She currently serves as a member of the NI Skills
Council Skills Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (SEDI) subgroup,
and as an expert reviewer for the European Commission and the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Political Activity
All appointments are made on merit and with regards to the
statutory requirements. Political activity plays no part in the
selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan
recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political
activity in defined categories to be made public.
All of the appointees have declared that they have not been
politically active in the last five years.
Regulation
These appointments are regulated by the Office of the
Commissioner for Public Appointment (OCPA).
Statutory Requirements
The Secretary of State makes appointments to the Equality
Commission for Northern Ireland in accordance with the Northern
Ireland Act 1998.
