Member Re-appointment to the Board of Sport Northern Ireland
Date published:
Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons MLA, has re-appointed Alison Nicholl to the Board of Sport NI from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2030. Alison has been a Sport NI Board Member since 1 April 2022.
Sport NI was established to develop sport and physical recreation in Northern Ireland, in line with the Recreation and Youth Service (NI) Order 1986 and is an Arm’s-Length Body of the Department for Communities (DfC). Its main objective is the furtherance of sport and physical activity in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity – ‘Active Living’ – sets out a vision of: ‘Lifelong involvement in sport and physical activity will deliver an active, healthy, resilient and inclusive society which recognises and values both participation and excellence.’
Notes to editors:
1. Sport NI Board Member positions are unpaid and require a commitment of at least 24 days per year. All Board positions can claim reasonable travel and subsistence expenses.
2. This re-appointment has 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. Any relevant details are provided in the below biography.
3. Alison Nicholl Biography: Ms Nicholl is a Senior Technology Consultant at EY leading large scale transformation projects in the public and private sector. Before taking up her current role, she was Head of Digital Transformation at Invest Northern Ireland, working in economic development. She worked closely with the Northern Ireland business base helping companies to grow their global exports by exploiting technology. A football fanatic, Alison is a pro-license coach and was the first female in Northern Ireland to obtain the qualification. She coached NI u17 women's team for 13 years and was Player/Manager of Coleraine Women’s FC for over 20 years, helping to establish the girls' junior academy. Alison also played hockey for Coleraine for several years and currently plays competitive squash for Ballymena Squash Club. She also enjoys cycling, 5-a-side football and going to the gym. She does not hold any other public appointments and has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.
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