The Fellowship Programme would not be possible with the support of our advisory board, academic advisors, and programme team.
Darragh McCarthy
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Darragh is the CEO and founder of FinTrU.
He started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1994 and remained there until 2012. At Morgan Stanley, Darragh was based in London, Frankfurt and New York and held various responsibilities including Global COO for Institutional Securities, COO for EMEA, Head of Fixed Income Sales North America and Head of Fixed Income Sales EMEA.
In 2013, Darragh founded FinTrU recognising the increased demand from Global Investment Banks to navigate the ever-increasing regulatory landscape.
FinTrU is a multi-award winning RegTech company in the financial services sector that employs over 1,200 people worldwide across Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, London, Dublin, Letterkenny, Maastricht, New York and Porto.
Nick Coburn CBE
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Nick is managing director and deputy chairman of Ulster Carpets, the premier supplier of Axminster and Wilton carpets to the world market.
Nick joined his family’s company in 1977, working in a wide range of roles in manufacturing and sales before being appointed managing director in 2004 and also deputy chairman of Ulster Carpets Group in 2017.
A former chairman of the Textile Institute and past president of the NI Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nick is currently a member of the Strategic Trade Advisory Group with the Department for International Trade as well as a member of the Economic Advisory Group with the Department for the Economy.
Derek Hynes
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Derek is the managing director for NIE Networks, working in the energy industry for over twenty years.
He is a director of Energy Networks Association Ltd, Centre for Competitiveness and Smart Grid Ireland. He was also Residential Ireland Manager of Electric Ireland, a retail business within ESB.
Derek is a chartered engineer with post graduate qualifications in Operations Management and Corporate Governance and he has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard University.
Peter Cunningham
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Peter Cunningham is the Chief Executive Officer of the Camlin Group, responsible for setting and delivering upon the strategic vision and direction of the global organisation and its business units across the Energy and Rail market sectors.
Having become CEO in 2019 Peter has been responsible for setting a new purpose and strategic direction for the organisation and has led its subsequent revenue growth rate over 20% year on year. The company now forecasts a group-wide revenue target of £80M+ for 2023. The company employs approximately 560 people globally, with a strong engineering and operational majority based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
Before becoming CEO of Camlin, Peter was previously Managing Director of the UK division of its Energy business, Kelvatek, for 6 years then subsequently was Managing Director of Camlin, before taking over as CEO. He studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering (MEng) at Loughborough University. He is married with three children, and lives near Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
Christina Bates
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Christina Bates is the Chief Financial Officer of Allstate Northern Ireland. Christina has led the Accounting and Finance team for almost twenty-five years and is part of the senior leadership team.
She has seen Allstate NI grow and develop through its lifecycle and provide high quality services to its parent company, the Allstate Corporation.
Christina trained with Ernst and Young in Belfast and was responsible for the entrepreneurial services department prior to moving to Allstate in 2000. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a member of the UK Investment Council, which is a forum for global investors to interact with government in relation to UK inward investment.
Her undergraduate degree in Human Sciences from Oxford University provides a natural synergy with the Fellowship Programme, both in terms of place and subject matter. Coupled with her financial expertise, Christina brings vital strategic insight to the advisory board and wider Fellowship Programme.
Dalreen Buchanan
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Dalreen Buchanan is Business Support Manager at Ulster Carpets where she plays an integral role at one of Northern Ireland’s most successful exporters.
Having worked across a number of key departments at Ulster Carpets, including IT Support, Customer Services, and Production Planning, Dalreen is able to utilise nearly thrity-five years’ experience to ensure the smooth delivery of high service standards.
In a broad and diverse role, Dalreen’s wide-ranging understanding of the company’s central operational requirements is key to working with external suppliers.
David Clements
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David currently fulfils the role of client director for Fujitsu in Northern Ireland.
Fujitsu employs over 600 people in Northern Ireland and provides a wide range of IT services to Northern Ireland public sector clients and wider clients in the rest of the UK utilising modern digital technologies.
Northern Ireland continues to be a focus for investment for Fujitsu as a major near-shore centre with a particular focus on digital applications capability.
David has over thirty years’ experience in the IT Industry and has been involved in many of the transformational programmes undertaken by Fujitsu in that time. He is married with two children and lives locally in the province.
Gordon Parkes
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Gordon has worked for NIE Networks for 22 years. He has over 40 years’ experience in Human Resources across several organisations and sectors.
He is a Board Member of the Board of Trustees of the Grand Opera House Trust and of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.
He is currently Chair of the Green Energy Skills Industry Reference Group established by the Department for the Economy.
He has been a Board member at the Labour Relations Agency and a member of the CBI Employment and Skills Committee. Since 2013 he has been a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and, in 2019, was awarded Chartered Companion status by the CIPD Board. He holds a Masters in Business Administration, is a member of the Institute of Directors and holds a Diploma in Company Direction (DipIoD).
Professor Harvey Maylor
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Harvey Maylor is a Senior Fellow in Management Practice and an Associate Professor at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Harvey teaches on the Major Projects Leadership Academy and the Saïd MSc in Major Programme Management, as well as leading their Leading Strategic Projects programme.
Harvey has worked as a consultant for governments, corporations, and charities, and is an Eminence Associate at Deloitte LLP.
His research interests are in systems design and complexity in major projects and the integration of policy and project systems in government.
Fellow Testimony
I’ve learned so much in a very short time. Getting outside perspective has been enlightening and a great education for me. It is also surprisingly encouraging about how people outside the arts value what we do and how much will there is to help.
I have gained branches of Fellow leaders, that I can lean on, that I can encourage and that I can work with and who I cannot wait to work with.
A pivotal experience and space for rethinking, learning and transformative exchanges. It has re-ignited my passion and commitment to do better and to be better, as well as enhanced my skills and capacity. I am better equipped to continue to contribute more effectively to a peaceful, progressive and prosperous Northern Ireland.
The journey with the Fellowship Programme provided me with the courage to enter a period of reflection, taking the time to become curious about where I could have more impact directly on people’s lives and connect all my experiences, networks, drive, and passion to make Northern Ireland a fairer place for people to live, work, and thrive.
I had a fantastic experience that took my thinking to places I didn’t expect. My cohort were superb, and we remain in regular contact. The learning was both excellent and varied, and we were supported throughout, particular by fantastic partner organisations. The learning opportunities continue through the alumni network, and I would recommend the Fellowship Programme to anyone.
The Fellowship programme meant so much to me as a community peacebuilder. It not only helped me learn and self-reflect in both a personal and professional capacity, but it also helped me build networks and links with those working in the business, civic, and political sectors. Now a year later, I am proud to be part of the Fellowship Programme alumni network and I still have sustained positive relationships with all of those who were Fellows in 2023.
The Fellowship Programme gives political, business, and civic leaders from across Northern Ireland the opportunity to learn from each other and share experiences, which are away from the normal day to day interactions. It is a perfect opportunity to grow and develop leadership qualities, as well as challenging thought, ideas, and how we can collectively work for the betterment of Northern Ireland.
One of the things I find particularly beneficial is being able to work with people who have vast amounts of experience and people who are quite new to their field. So, you get both breadth and diversity.
