NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS ANNOUNCED FOR PR BODY – Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)

Photo by Aaron McCracken/Harrisons
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Northern Ireland has announced the appointment of four new committee members at its 2016 AGM.

The new members, voted on to the committee during the AGM in Belfast are Chris Pollock from LK Communications, Michele Canning from the Housing Executive, Cancer Fund for Children’s Rachel Burgoyne and Sara McCracken from the Green Party Northern Ireland.

CIPR NI appointed Dr Fred Morrison, Lecturer at the School of Communication at University of Ulster as Student Liaison and three student ambassadors – one postgraduate and two post graduate students. Fred along with Cathy Devlin, Anthony Boyd and Kirsty Wallace will assist the Committee in helping to improve engagement with CIPR student members across Northern Ireland.

The members and student ambassadors were welcomed onto the local committee by CIPR NI Chair and MD of Rumour Mill PR, Samantha Livingstone.

Samantha said: “The CIPR in Northern Ireland is going from strength to strength and this year we saw more nominations for the committee than ever before. The four new committee members will be a great asset to the Institute as we look to build on 2015, a year in which we celebrated our 50th anniversary in Northern Ireland.

“I’m excited for what the future holds for the CIPR in Northern Ireland and on behalf of myself, my Vice Chair Sinead Doyle and the rest of the committee, I’d like to say a big thank you to the PR professionals across the country who play a role in the Institute’s continued growth.”

The AGM was attended by CIPR UK President Elect Jason MacKenzie and a host of PR professionals from the public, private and voluntary sectors. During the event, the Institute also appointed a new treasurer, Nicola Bothwell from NB Chartered Marketing and welcomed Seona McGrath of Smarts Communicate back to role of Secretary.

The AGM featured a review of the CIPR NI’s key achievements in 2015, including:

·             £5,000 raised for the Institute’s charity partner, Tinylife

·             A 5% increase in CIPR membership locally

·             Record number of entries for the CIPR NI Media Awards

·             The appointment of three fellows to the Institute – Julie McCabe, Chris Harrison and Gary McKeown

The CIPR NI group has 368 members and represents professionals with all levels of experience and from every sector of the PR industry across all counties in Northern Ireland.