Appointments to the Board of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

The Department for Communities has announced the appointment of Mr Gerard McCurdy as the new Chief Commissioner to the Board of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2028.

Mr McCurdy has served on the Board since 1 March 2019 as the Deputy Chief Commissioner and as the Interim Chief Commissioner from December 2022.

The second term of appointment of Mr Seamus Magee, Commissioner on the Board of the Charity Commission, has been extended from 1 June 2023 to 31 August 2023. He has been on the Board since 1 June 2015.

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland was established as the regulator of charities operating in Northern Ireland following the enactment of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. The main functions of it are to keep a public register of charities; encourage, facilitate and monitor compliance with charity law; determine charity status; identify and investigate misconduct in charity administration and take remedial or protective action as necessary.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Chief Commissioner position receives remuneration of £6,192 per annum for a commitment of two days per month. However, an interim arrangement is in place, until a review of remuneration is completed, which allows up to a further 3 days per month potentially increasing total remuneration to £15,300 per annum. It is expected that this interim arrangement will be in place until March 2024. Travel and subsistence allowances are also payable.
2. The Commissioner receives remuneration of £2,501 per annum for a commitment of one to two days per month. Travel and subsistence allowances are also payable. In addition, since the 2019 McBride High Court Judgement all Commissioners are expected to serve on several decision making committees throughout the year and are paid a daily rate for this additional work of £500.
3. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland’s (CPA NI) Code of Practice. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, CPA NI requires the political activity of appointees to be published.
4. Gerard McCurdy - Mr McCurdy has over 40 years’ experience working in a regulatory environment dealing with food safety, public health and consumer protection, including as the former NI Director of the Food Standards Agency which he was instrumental in setting up. He is on the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. He has considerable board experience, particularly in the areas of strategic planning, governance, audit and risk management. He has declared no political activity in the last five years.
5. Seamus Magee - Mr Magee is a former Head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland through which he played a key role in the introduction of individual electoral registration and establishment of a regulatory framework for political parties in Northern Ireland. He was awarded an OBE for services to democracy in the Queen's New Year Honours List 2015. He previously worked in the fields of health, social services and consumer affairs. He is an Associate with the General Medical Council, Manchester and is a Fitness to Practice Panel Member with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, London. He serves on the Client Complaints Committee of the Northern Ireland Law Society. He has declared no political activity in the last five years and holds no other public appointments.
6. Media enquiries via email
7. Follow the Department on Twitter @CommunitiesNI
8. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

Share this page