Barry Phillips Meets

The Lord Lieutenant Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle MBE CBE was born and brought up in Derry/Londonderry in the 60s and 70s. Destined for a career as an opera singer in the conservatoire he career aspirations were cut short by a debilitating illness. Active for a while in student politics at Queen’s University what followed was a hugely successful career in Public and Government Affairs, setting up her own consultancy firm and heading up major initiatives including “Taste of Ulster”– the award winning worldwide campaign to promote food and hospitality from Northern Ireland. In 1996 she founded the Belfast Buildings Trust helping to save and restore some key historic building in Belfast. In 2,000 she was awarded an MBE and a CBE in 2,008. In 2014 she was appointed Lord Lieutenant representing Her Majesty the Queen in the County of Belfast following on from Dame Mary Peters. In this wide ranging interview Fionnuala talks about the futility of one-sidedness and questions whether there is such a thing as certainty. Time flies when you’re with this lady. Her warmth, her genuine interest in people and her search for understanding key issues in life make her compelling company.

The Poles first came to work in Northern Ireland in big numbers when Polish citizens were granted the right of free movement as EU members in May 2004. Many found employment here and were grateful for any type of work for it was guaranteed to provide more money than they could expect to earn at home. They worked as cleaners for Robinsons or as labourers in Camden Frames, Sam Mouldings or on the assembly line at what was then Schrader or in construction during the mini boom in 2007-2009. Whilst some worked in the health service as nurses, carers or doctors large numbers were over qualified for the jobs they first took. But with limited English and no contacts here to many it was about getting on an early rung of the ladder and then making their way from there. But the arrival of hundreds then thousands of Poles brought change to Northern Ireland. Suddenly, almost overnight, there was a sizeable third group of people. Sure Northern Ireland did have others groups of people such as the Indian and Chinese community but these were small in number, well settled and accepted. Journalists commented that since the Good Friday Agreement the two communities Protestant and Catholic so long in conflict might need another enemy and openly worried that they work look for one elsewhere. The Polish Community had closer connections to Britain than they did Ireland for their role in the British RAF is well documented. But largely Catholic by religion they may have expected a warmer welcome from the other side of the community. What type of a welcome did they get from us in Northern Ireland? And how do they remember their first years here? I set out to find out…..

In this keynote address for ASCL delivered at the Birmingham conference and events centre, Barry Phillips, gives his views on how to deal with overwhelm in the workplace. He talks about turning "FOMO" into "JOMO", practising a "Slow Yes and a Quick No" and finishes with his favourite five ways to ensure you're highly effective at work every day.

Marie has just been recommended by the Secretary of State to succeed Dr. Michael Maguire as the next Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. She was the Assistant Information Commissioner for Northern Ireland for five years and Deputy Ombudsman for seven. She became the first ever Public Services Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in April 2016. She is also the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman. In this remarkably frank interview she explains how being wrongly suspected of theft at school led her to develop an early interest in justice and human rights. She talks about the pressures of taking big decisions that will impact on the lives of many people and how she deals with the very public criticism she has to face in doing her work. What she has to say about leadership is fascinating and should be required listening for everyone, public sector or private, wanting to develop their leadership schools.

Born in Cork, Padriag O’Tuama was one of 6 children. He studied theology with an eye on the priesthood. It was in his teens that he first began to realise that his faith, his religion and his sexuality did not sit comfortably together and that very hard, very personal choices, lay ahead of him. Still a deeply religious man, last month you may just have heard Padriag presenting BBC’s Prayer for Today on Radio 4. But you’re as likely to find him carrying a dictionary of etymology as you are a bible. For he has an almost nerdy interest even obsession with language or languages. His “In the Shelter” autobiographical work introduces the reader to many Irish phrases, it dissects and analyses English words and muses with Hebrew, Japanese, Zulu and even American Sign Language. If he’s geeky about language he has an equally geeky twin interest in story-telling. He’s co-founder of the Ten x 9 story telling movement something that started in Belfast but has spread to Australia, Britain, the Netherlands and the USA. Since moving north, Padriag has worked teaching in schools, as a chaplain and most recently as the leader of the Corrymela Peace building Community head quartered on the North Coast. But first and foremost Padraig describes himself as a poet. His poem "Shaking Hands" capturing the moment Queen Elizabeth met Martin McGuiness is just one of his works that has received wide critical acclaim.

Since taking the baton in 1990 from his father, James, who started the cleaning business in 1972 David has increased turnover from £1million to £17million with Robinson Services now employing more than 1,700 workers making it one of Northern Ireland’s top employers by staff numbers. Employees out on site find him affable and approachable and notice that he knows them all be name. Colleagues in the office say he’s personable but a tough decision taker too and very good at taking and managing risk. David is a rare example of a business leader who does organic growth just as well as he does it by acquisition. He doesn’t really appear to care too much about his own personal brand but his non-negotiables of strong business values, a focus on employee welfare, giving back to the local community and quality family time in abundance say everything about him.

In part 2 of the Legal Island story company chairman Barry Phillips discusses five key business development areas that helped him grow the business. He talks about early failures and set backs, discusses his favourite business leadership books and explains why he thinks using social media nowadays is a poor use of time. He offers a few tips on how to network well in Northern Ireland and explains why he wishes he had read Gerber’s The EMyth long before he did. Finally, he talks about the good and the not so good partnerships Legal Island entered into to help them develop their business and the lessons learnt the hard way.

Ellen Murray is Executive Director of Transgender NI a not-for profit organisation that campaigns for the rights of transgender and non-binary people in Northern Ireland. Born in 1993 and raised in West Belfast, she founded GenderJamNI a trans youth group and three years later set up the Belfast Trans Resource Centre the first such centre in the UK and Ireland. Ellen is herself transgender having begun her own journey from male to female in 2013. In a BBC documentary recorded recently she said "I probably wouldn't be alive today if I hadn't transitioned". In May 2016 Ellen became the first transgender person to stand for election to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Green Party candidate for West Belfast. Although now firmly in the arena as a human rights campaigner originally Ellen had very different plans. She studied Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Queens University and by her own admission has a number of nerdy interests including amateur radio, urban motorways and street lighting. This episode captures her story and her contribution to the new Northern Ireland.

Michael Cameron is a former Northern Ireland Civil Servant turned playwright. Born in Belfast in 1965 Michael left school in 1981 with just 2 O Levels and joined the Civil Service the following year. He soon worked his way up the ranks working towards the end of his career as a Political Liaison Officer and Private Secretary to various Ministers witnessing first hand some of the most turbulent times in recent British/Irish history. In 2015 he left the Civil service for health reasons and began his career as a writer. His first major work is the play Ruby! About the Belfast singer Ruby Murray which opens in February to sell out audiences at The Lyric. It received rave reviews in its preview following its preview last year and there’s already talk about Michael scripting a movie about her life

Since becoming an entrepreneur 21 years ago Barry Phillips has owned a property company, a travel business and developed products for sale to a global market but he is best known for founding Legal-Island the island of Ireland’s No.1 compliance and training organisation. In the first of four episodes tracing the development Legal-Island, Barry Phillips about what prompted him to set up in business, his early challenges and some of his biggest mistakes. Introduced by MD Jayne Gallagher this series of episodes (to be released over the next 6 months to mark Legal-Island’s 21st anniversary) is a must for all those with an interest in business start-ups and development, managing people and leading a company.