Meet Your Hosts!

Siobhán O’Neill and Aidan Kearney

As senior staff members with Supporting Communities, this formidable pair spends their days working with housing providers and tenants across Ireland, turning the noble art of tenant participation from "we tried calling a meeting once" into something that really works for tenants and staff alike.

Consider them your conference GPS – they'll navigate you through the programme, ask the questions you wish you'd thought of, and manage to keep us on time if it kills them! Fair warning: their combined charm levels have been known to make even the most serious housing professionals crack a smile.

Rest assured, you're in exceptionally capable (and delightfully witty) hands with these two steering the ship!

Keynote Address:

“Is There a Seat at the Table? Ethnic Minority Voices in Tenant Engagement”

Kai Jackson

Kai holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology and Counselling, accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). She has chaired a tenant scrutiny panel for over three years, leading reviews, shaping policies, handling complaints, and contributing to staff recruitment and cultural change within a housing association.

A strong advocate for tenant involvement, Kai is also a member of the National Housing Federation’s Tenants Advisory Panel and a TPAS Associate, having collaborated with CIH, Inside Housing, and other sector organisations.

She authored the TPAS national project “Is There a Seat at the Table: Ethnic Minority Voices in Tenant Engagement” and actively champions inclusive, stigma-free tenant engagement. Kai also contributes to a West Midlands think tank and a community-led housing commission.

Go for Gold: Tenant Participation Accreditation

Dolores Grady

With over 37 years of experience in the social housing sector, Dolores is a highly accomplished and results-driven professional with a strong track record in housing management, policy development, and project delivery. Her extensive career has included roles such as Older Persons Co-ordinator, Estate Officer, Community Development Co-ordinator, Area Manager, Regional Manager, and National Tenant Relations Manager — each contributing to a deep and versatile skill set in tenant engagement, risk management, and stakeholder collaboration.

Throughout her career, both in local authority settings and with Respond Housing Association, she has worked closely with tenants, consistently demonstrating a commitment to meeting diverse community needs. Adaptable and responsive to change, she continues to bring valuable insights to the sector following her retirement in January 2023.

Since then, she has remained actively involved in tenant engagement through her work as an Associate Member of Supporting Communities, contributing to their accreditation programme and supporting tenant and staff initiatives at Cabrhū Housing Association. Her recent consultancy work includes supporting Circle Voluntary Housing Association in the development of their tenant engagement and communication strategy and working with Clúid Housing Association’s Cost Rental Team during a key staffing transition.

Driven by a deep belief in the transformative power of secure housing, Dolores is passionate about empowering individuals and strengthening communities through meaningful tenant engagement.

Go for Gold: Tenant Participation Accreditation

Lesa Kelly

Lesa is the Senior Engagement Officer at Radius Housing, where she played a pivotal role in the development and delivery of Radius’s Tenant Engagement Strategy 2022–2025, ensuring that tenants’ voices are heard from the doorstep to the boardroom. She has been instrumental in creating a wide range of engagement opportunities tailored to meet the diverse needs of tenants.

Lesa helped embed tenant participation into the culture of Radius Housing, making it a shared responsibility across the organisation, where tenant engagement is everyone’s role. This commitment contributed to Radius becoming the first housing association on the island of Ireland to receive Gold Level Tenant Participation Accreditation from Supporting Communities in 2024.

Lesa is passionate about promoting good practice within the housing sector and champions the many benefits of effective tenant engagement.

Young Voices in Housing

Martin Kelly

Marty is the Senior Youth Work Manager at the NI Youth Forum. He has over 20 years of experience working across the youth sector in various settings.

He is passionate about young people’s rights, the youth voice, and addressing the needs of young people through improved mental health services and support.

He is also an advocate for education reform and the induction of mental health and well-being into the education curriculum.

Affordable Warmth & Retrofit: The innovation social housing needs right now

David Wilton

David Wilton is the Chief Executive of TPAS Cymru in Wales.

He is passionate about creating affordable warmth in homes and creating more sustainable communities.  He campaigns for a better tenant voice in housing.

He is a former Marketing Director of a Digital Agency and was Head of Digital at Legal & General PLC. 

Innovation in Tenant Participation: Participatory Budgeting

Kelly Foster 

Kelly is the Community Investment Manager for Ark Housing Association.

Kelly has been with Ark Housing for 20 years in various frontline roles within homelessness and housing management. Kelly is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the Shared Housing Programme by developing with her team the necessary components to improve community cohesion within shared housing schemes and surrounding communities.

Kelly is also responsible for delivering the Tenant Participation Strategy within Ark, an area that she has championed throughout her career in social housing. She uses her role to advocate for the voice of the tenant to be heard. 

Three Approaches to Working with Tenants on ASB Policies

Aoife  O'Fearghail, Circle VHA 

Three Approaches to Working with Tenants on ASB Policies

Mark Doherty, Apex Housing 

Three Approaches to Working with Tenants on ASB Policies

TBA, Clanmil Housing 

A Social Impact Measurement Framework

Reyhana Cushnan 

Reyhana is the Strategy and Policy Lead at Respond, bringing over 25 years of experience in social housing across Ireland and the UK. She has a strong background in housing management, policy, and research, as well as strategic development and the implementation of best practice and service improvement frameworks.

Throughout her career, Reyhana has worked with a variety of general needs and specialist housing providers, delivering inclusive and tailored housing services. She has led initiatives to enhance organisational performance, implement regulatory and quality standards, and design resident involvement and scrutiny programmes, ensuring that residents’ voices are central to decision-making. Reyhana holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Social Science (Policy Studies) and an MSc (Hons) in Housing. She is also a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Tenant Voice in Adaptations

Roisin O'Neill

Tenant Voice in Adaptations

Karina Murray

Karina comes from Magherafelt, and she has been a volunteer community member of Killowen Drive Residents Association since 2013. Karina has been representing Mid Ulster at Central Housing Forum (CHF) since September 2016. 
 
Karina first became involved in her local community group as a community volunteer back in 2013 while off on maternity leave, she found it provided a great way to meet new people and make a small difference in her community. Karina started attending interagency and local HCN meetings to represent her community group. This in turn led to Karina being nominated to be a representative for Magherafelt at her area HCNs, and overtime led to her being invited to sit on area level scrutiny panel and a member of the Central Housing Forum as Mid Ulster representative.
 
Karina has been relentless in her pursuit for a specific working group to review the adaptation process. She is keen to see improvements within the disabled adaptations, both for Disabled Facilities Grants and adaptations for tenants.

Tenant Voice in Adaptations

Patricia Bray

Patricia is the Co-Founder of the North West Forum of People with Disabilities and is currently Chairperson of the Management Committee.  Patricia has been involved in the Human Rights movement for over 30 years.  During that time, she has worked with Disability Action for 27 of those years as Statutory Duty and Policy Officer and specialist on disability equality legislation, including the public sector equality duties under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Disability Order 2007 Disability Duties.

In addition, Patricia provides logistical and business support to aid the North West Forums ’ mission and objectives to protect and promote the Human Rights of disabled people.  Patricia represents the North West Forum through a variety of networks and organisations, including the Housing Executive’s Disability Forum and Central Housing Forum.

Patricia has been a member of the Disability Forum since June 2017 and the Central Housing Forum since March 2021.  Patricia promotes the interests and concerns of disabled people, in particular, the adaptation process, accessibility of the built environment and to information, as well as highlighting the Housing Executive’s duties under equality legislation and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.  

Patricia’s main objective is to ensure that the voice of disabled people is heard and, most importantly, listened to, ensuring that Housing Executive policies are co-designed with full and meaningful participation of people with disabilities.

Patricia’s motto is “Nothing About Us Without Us”.

NIHE’s Decarb Journey – Engage Educate Empower 

Paul Isherwood

Preventing Burnout – Take time to manage your mental health

Alan McDowell

Alan McDowell founded Portadown Wellness Centre in September 2019. His current role is the overall general manager of Portadown Wellness Centre and Empower Garden Centre & Farm Shop.

His vision for Portadown Wellness Centre is to provide accessible, affordable and effective support for everybody in the community experiencing mental health issues, loneliness or isolation.

Previously, Alan held senior management roles in some of Northern Ireland's leading agricultural and horticultural businesses, including Germinal, Westland Horticulture and Bulrush Horticultural.

Quality in our Diversity

Marie Corr

Supporting Vulnerable Tenants to get Involved  

Eiméar O’Hagan

Eimear is a senior housing professional in Ireland, with over 20 years’ experience working in the sector in various capacities. She is currently the Head of Housing and Property Management at HAIL.

Eimear previously held roles at Saint John of God, North and East, Sue Ryder Foundation and Clúid, as well as in the private sector in the UK, while always ensuring that the tenant’s voice is at the centre of her work.

Including Older People with a Mental Impairment

Niamh Randall

Including Neurodivergent Voices

Kerry Boyd, Autism NI

Kerry is the Chief Executive of Autism NI, where she is proud to provide strategic direction to an innovative and evolving charity, which has grown immensely over the last few years and which successfully led on two pieces of landmark legislation, the Autism Act 2011 and the Autism Amendment Act in 2022.

Kerry has successfully overseen multiple funded projects, secured sources of income, and established strategic partnerships with both the statutory and voluntary sectors. Recent achievements include winning the Best Newcomer CEO award in 2019 and being recognised as the UK Investors in People Employer of the Year in 2021. Her academic background is in Business and Marketing, and she is a Fellow Chartered Marketer.

Panel Facilitator

Justin Cartwright

Justin is National Director for Northern Ireland at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Justin is experienced in policy development in Australia and Northern Ireland with a focus on social and economic issues. For the past eight years, he has developed housing policy and professional practice at CIH Northern Ireland, where he has led the organisation’s marketing, communications and member engagement work. Justin was Editor of Housing Ireland – the journal for Irish housing professionals – from 2014 to 2018. He is a certified practitioner of CIH, a member of the Chartered Management Institute and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) from RMIT University in Melbourne, having undertaken research on acoustics in the built environment. 

What Makes a Good Scrutiny Exercise?

Dean Kelly

Dean has been a Radius tenant for over seven years and was among the earliest tenants to be involved in their engagement process. He has served on their executive panel and taken part in numerous service improvement panels.

He also enjoys volunteering his digital skills by helping tenants in Radius’ Folds to get online.

What Makes a Good Scrutiny Exercise?

TBC

What Makes a Good Scrutiny Exercise?

Elishia Mullan

Elishia Mullan is a passionate community advocate and long-standing Clanmil customer who has spent over a decade working to improve the lives of those around her.

Elishia’s dedication to her community led her to become a trusted voice within Clanmil’s customer engagement structures. She has actively contributed to multiple forums and service improvement panels, offering insight on repairs, recycling, green spaces, and communal living standards. Her practical, customer-focused feedback has helped shape more responsive and inclusive housing services.

In 2021, Elishia was elected to the Northern Ireland Housing Policy Panel, where she has proudly served for three years. As a tenant representative, she has played a key role in ensuring that the voices and experiences of social housing customers directly inform housing policy development.

Elishia also contributes to recruitment panels for senior Clanmil roles, acts as a mystery shopper to evaluate service quality, and serves as a judge for community initiatives including the Clanmil Good Neighbour Awards and Clanmil in Bloom.

What Makes a Good Scrutiny Exercise?

Keith McCann

In 2010, Keith McCann embarked on his community involvement journey by volunteering with the Killicomaine Residents Group.

Presently, he serves as the representative for the South area on the central HCN and remains actively engaged in community initiatives alongside with Killicomaine Residents Group in Portadown.

Before delving into community work, Keith had a background in taxation, having been employed by the civil service, and also spent a period of time self-employed in outside catering.

Keith is driven by a profound passion and vision for community development, emphasising social change through the avenue of play and fostering an environment for both personal and societal transformation. His approach focuses on building upon strengths rather than dwelling on weaknesses, fostering change without judgment or condemnation.

Having joined the Portadown HCN over a decade ago, Keith expanded his involvement in September 2023 by joining the area's regional and central tiers of HCN and now represents his local HCN on the CHF.

Tenants Have the Last Word

Bobby McConnell

Bobby is a tenant with Radius Housing where he has been actively involved for many years. He is also a member of the Housing Policy Panel, a representative body for tenants all over Northern Ireland, consulting on housing policy with the Department for Communities.

Tenants Have the Last Word

Lorraine Gorman

Lorraine has been a Circle VHA tenant since 2020 and immediately got involved as a member of their Tenant Advisory Group. She is now also a member of their Tenant First Link panel.

Lorraine will share her journey and experience of getting involved and how it shaped her perspective of being a tenant. She works to ensure all tenant voices are heard to improve Circle’s services for everyone.

Tenants Have the Last Word

Karina Murray

Karina comes from Magherafelt and she has been a volunteer community member of Killowen Drive Residents Association since 2013. Karina now has been representing Mid Ulster at Central Housing Forum (CHF) since September 2016. 
 
Karina first became involved in her local community group as a community volunteer back in 2013 while off on maternity leave, she found it provided a great way to meet new people and make a small difference in her community. Karina started attending interagency and local HCN meetings to represent her community group. This in turn led to Karina being nominated to be a representative for Magherafelt at her area HCNs, and overtime led to her being invited to sit on area level scrutiny panel and a member of the Central Housing Forum as Mid Ulster representative.
 
Karina has been relentless in her pursuit for a specific working group to review the adaptation process. She is keen to see improvements within the disabled adaptations, both for Disabled Facilities Grants and adaptations for tenants.  

Tenants Have the Last Word

Patricia McQuillan, MBE

Patricia McQuillan is the first elected chair of the Housing Policy Panel (HPP) and the Tenant Advocate for Northern Ireland. The HPP is a consultative forum for the Department of Communities, comprised of tenant representatives from all the major housing associations and the Housing Executive.

She is the secretary of Moneydig Rural Network and has been involved in community work for 25 years. Here she deals with the various issues of living in a remote rural location and assists many with benefits. Her group runs seasonal projects, woodworking classes, an annual environmental project, educational classes, health and well-being sessions, dance and music classes, and lots more!

Patricia also wears numerous other hats and has been involved in tenant rights for many years. She is the longstanding chair of the Rural Residents Forum and vice chair of the Central Housing Forum, both at the top tier of tenant representation for the NIHE’s Housing Community Network, the key forum for tenant and community engagement in Northern Ireland. She sits on numerous working groups in these capacities.

Patricia is also an independent member and vice chair of the Policing Community Safety Partnership in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. She is passionate about everything rural and is always the rural voice at all meetings. Patricia is involved in new research on why there is a lack of new, social, and affordable houses being provided year on year in rural areas.

Patricia’s motto is, “that there is always strength in diversity, and never give up!”

Closing Remarks

Ian McCrickard

Ian retired from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in 2022, having held various positions during his 38 years of service, including District Manager in both the Downpatrick and Lisburn Districts, Regional Manager in both the South and the Belfast Regions and Assistant Director, Housing Services.

As District and Regional Manager, Ian worked directly with all the various communities within the Housing Community Network throughout the Districts and Regions and was always deeply committed to maximising community involvement in the housing service, believing this would work to the benefit of both tenants and local communities.

During his years as Assistant Director of Housing Services, Ian was responsible for strategy development, policy development, budget management (including community development funding streams and significant staffing budgets), personnel management (including responsibility for over 400 staff) and IT development. An important part of his portfolio was the development and implementation of the NIHE’s Community Involvement Strategy and the management of the Supporting Communities Service Level Agreement.

A passionate advocate of community participation in housing, Ian looks uses his extensive experience to advance the work of the SC board.