O’Dowd appoints Belfast City Councillors to the Board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners

Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd has appointed Jenna Maghie, Ronan McLaughlin, Ryan Murphy, and Nicola Verner to serve as Non-Executive Councillor Members on the Board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

The appointments will take effect from 1 August 2024 and will be for a maximum of four years.

Minister O’Dowd said:

“I am pleased to announce the appointments of Councillors Maghie, McLaughlin, Murphy, and Verner to these important roles.  I am confident they will maintain the high standard of work set by previous Members.”

The Commissioners have responsibility, under a series of Harbour Acts and Orders, for developing, maintaining, and operating Belfast Port to the highest standards of efficiency, financial prudence, environmental awareness, safety, and security to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Notes to editors: 

1. Belfast Harbour Commissioners is a Public Trust Port established by legislation. The Constitution of the Commissioners was established under the Belfast Harbour Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 (No 41).
2. The Belfast Harbour Commissioners currently have a membership of a Chair, one Executive Member, nine Non-Executive Members and four Councillor Non-Executive Members. The Members of the BHC Board currently receive remuneration of £ £15,761 per annum.
3. Councillors are appointed to the Board in line with the Belfast Harbour Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 and can only serve as a Board Member if they remain a member of the Belfast City Council. The appointment is up to a maximum of four years.
4. The Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. Jenna Maghie has declared that she has undertaken political activity on behalf of the Alliance Party. Ronan McLaughlin and Ryan Murphy have declared that they have undertaken political activity on behalf of Sinn Féin. Nicola Verner has declared that she has undertaken political activity on behalf of the Democratic Unionist Party.  All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.
5. The appointment has been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland Code of Practice.

6. Biographies

Jenna Maghie

Jenna has been an elected member of Belfast City Council since 2022 and represents the Ormiston District Electoral Area. She currently sits on the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, People and Communities Committee and the Standards and Business Committee. She has previously chaired the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Ltd Committee. She currently holds no other public appointments.

Ronan McLaughlin

Ronan is an elected member of Belfast City Council and represents the Black Mountain District Electoral Area. He is the Deputy Party Group Leader for Sinn Féin. He is a member of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, City Growth and Regeneration Committee and the Business and Standards Committee. He holds no other public appointments positions.

Ryan Murphy

Ryan is an elected member of Belfast City Council and represents the Oldpark Electoral Area in North Belfast. He is a former Mayor of the City of Belfast, the Chair of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and a member of the Planning Committee on the Council.  He holds no other public appointments positions.

Nicola Verner

Nicola is an elected member of Belfast City Council and represents the Court District Electoral Area since 2019. She served as High Sheriff of Belfast in 2020, and in the same year received a BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. 

Nicola currently sits on the People & Communities Committee, Waterfront and Ulster Hall and Audit & Risk Committee. She holds no other public appointments positions.

7. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
8. 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.
9. Follow the Department on X/Twitter @deptinfra on Facebook  @DepartmentforInfrastructure and on LinkedIn at DfILinkedIn .

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