Appointment of Interim Chair to the Board of Invest NI

The Department for the Economy has announced the appointment of Colm McKenna as Interim Chair of the Invest NI Board.

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The Department has commenced work on a competition to appoint a substantive Chair to the Board. Colm McKenna has been appointed as Interim Chair for nine months (ending 30 November 2023) to allow time for the substantive Chair competition to complete.

Notes to editors: 

1. Following a long and successful career in Financial Services, which included leadership positions in Corporate Treasury, International Banking, Trade Finance and Marketing, Mr McKenna retired from the industry in 2008.
2. He is a former Chair of the NI Public Sector Chairs Forum and the NI Confederation for Health and Social Care. He has served as Chair and Non-Executive Director across a range of large public sector organisations including Chair of South Eastern HSC Trust (2008-2019), Chair of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (2014 – 2019), Chair of the NI Food Advisory Committee and Board Member for the NI Food Standards Agency (2016 – 2022). He also served as Non-Executive Director and/or Chair of Audit Committee at the NI Assembly Secretariat (2010 – 2016), NI Courts and Tribunal Services (2011 – 2019), ILEX URC Ltd (2010 -2016) and the NI Policing Board (2018 – 2022). Mr McKenna was a Department for the Economy Non-Executive Director from 2017 until February 2023.
3. Invest Northern Ireland was established under the Industrial Development Act (Northern Ireland) 2002, and its role is to promote innovation, enterprise and competitiveness in Northern Ireland businesses, encourage new start-ups and market Northern Ireland as a location for inward investment.
4. Remuneration as Chair of the Board of Invest Northern Ireland is currently £45,535 per annum, with a time commitment approximately four days per month.
5. The appointment of the Interim Chair has been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments NI Code of Practice.
6. All independent appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, CPANI requires the political activity of appointees to be published.  Mr McKenna has had no political activity in the last 5 years.
7. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at [email protected]
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9. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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