Re-appointment of Members to the AFBI Board
Date published:
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir has announced the re-appointment of the following members of the Agri-food and Biosciences Institute Board (AFBI) for a six-month period from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025.
- Daphne Johnston
- Alan Moore
- Tim McClelland
- Tom Tynan
- Tom Wright
Minister Muir said: “These extensions provide continuity to the AFBI Board and enable AFBI to continue with its important function of undertaking a range of scientific work for DAERA. I plan to announce a new competition to publicly appoint new members to the AFBI Board to serve from June 2025.”
Notes to editors:
- Biographical Details of the appointees are listed below:
• Daphne Johnston retired following 36 years’ experience as a social worker working mainly within the public sector and for a period within the voluntary sector in a variety of roles from social worker to senior manager within community services, clinical and social care governance and workforce development and training. Daphne is an Executive Coach and has a Master’s Degree in Strategy and Leadership. She has extensive experience in her working life, having chaired and been a member of a range of Boards and Committees, experience of multi-discipline and multi-agency working, corporate governance, strategic and financial planning. From 2021/2024 Daphne also served as a Non-Executive Board Member with the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland and was Chair of the Legal Services Agency Audit and Risk Committee.
• Alan Moore was Director of Strategic Capital Development in the Western Health & Social Care Trust until his retirement in September 2021. He was the Senior Responsible Officer, for the delivery of all major capital schemes including the redevelopment of Altnagelvin Area Hospital. He also chaired the Western Trust’s International Medical Recruitment Group. Since retirement, Alan has been appointed as an associate of the HSC Leadership Centre undertaking periodic assignments supporting the health services and other public sector organisations within Northern Ireland on a part-time basis. Alan is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a Lay Member of the Council for Ulster University for which expenses only are paid. Alan has recently been appointed as the Honorary Consul for Ukraine in Northern Ireland which is a voluntary unpaid position with a 5-year tenure.
• Tim McClelland owns and manages an award-winning arable farm near Tandragee, County Armagh. A LEAF Marque accredited business, improving environmental outcomes is a key performance measurement. Formally a Member of Ulster Farmers Union Board, Tim also chaired the Union’s Arable Policy Committee. Tim was a member of CAFRE College Advisory Group; is a UK Nuffield Farming Scholar and holds an MSc. in Agri-food and Business Development from Ulster University. A member of AFBI Board since 2019 Tim currently serves as Chair of Science sub-committee. An elected member of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council since 2019, Tim was previously Chair of Governance and Resources and is a past Deputy Lord Mayor.
• Tom Tynan has a distinguished career in agriculture. He was educated at University College Dublin (UCD), UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Galway (UCG), Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, and Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and was UCD 2015 Alumni Award winner from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science. Tom is an experienced executive who worked across a range of agri-business and policy areas holding a variety of senior management roles, latterly Commercial Director and Chief Operations Officer. Experience spans commercial, strategy, operations and advisory. He served in two European Commissioner Cabinets - Trade and Agriculture & Rural Development. He previously acted as Special Advisor to the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food & Forestry in the Irish government. He is currently Non-Executive Director of the Marine Institute (Ireland), Agri-Food Biosciences Institute (Northern Ireland) and Shannon Foynes Port Company (Ireland). He has also previously held posts on the Board of Teagasc (Ireland's Agriculture & Food Development Authority), Agri-Aware and the Scientific Advisory Board of Alltech and he is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Ireland.
• Tom Wright Tom Wright retired as Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer from the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service in 2011 after 33 years’ service. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers and also a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. Tom graduated from the University of Ulster in 2000 with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and in 2010 successfully completed the Executive Critical Leadership Development Programme at Queens University Belfast. He is a former Board Member of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Health & Safety Executive and Chair of its Audit & Risk Assurance Committee. Tom is also a former Governor of Oakwood Integrated Primary School. - AFBI is a DAERA Executive Non-Departmental Public Body set up under the powers of the Agriculture (NI) Order 2004. It is empowered under the Order to undertake scientific work (research and development, testing, advice and information on scientific matters and dissemination of the results of scientific research) in the fields of agriculture, animal health and welfare, food, fisheries, forestry, the natural environment and rural development and enterprise.
- These re-appointments have been made in accordance with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 and the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland (CPA NI) Code of Practice.
- The above re-appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. Mr Tim McClelland is an elected Councillor for the Democratic Unionist Party in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council since 2019.
- Board members are paid £436 per day for a time commitment which is not expected to exceed 20 days per year.
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