Class Notes 1980s
Jillian Mitchell, BSc Architecture 1984. Jillian Mitchell, one of the directors at Lomas and Mitchell Architects (specialists in low-energy design), has been closely involved with a project featuring a new, multi-generational home built on a small-holding in Derbyshire. The project was featured in an episode of Grand Designs. (Added 29 September 2022)
Patrick Taylor, MB BCh BAO 1964, MD 1985. Retired in 2001 after a career in academic medicine to write. Since publishing 17 novels including the Irish Country Doctor series, 6 which became New York Times best sellers, one collection of short stories, and one of medical anecdotes has, with the publication of the Novella An In Irish Country Yuletide, Tor Forge, New York, 12 October 2021, announced his retirement from writing. (note added 21 December 2021)
Jonathan Bramley, BSc 1987. Queen’s graduates Jonny Bramley and Suzanne Allen got engaged on 27th March during a trip home to Northern Ireland. Suzanne and Jonny met in London in June 2012 at a Queen’s University Association London (QUAL) event. This event was to showcase the role of Queen’s graduates at the London 2012 Olympics and Mary Peters, amongst others, gave a presentation. Jonny was speaking in his capacity as Executive Producer of Major Events for BBC Sport and Suzanne was just there for the craic!
Jonny, Queen’s 2016 Graduate of the Year, graduated with honours in Computer Science in 1987 while Suzanne, who works in risk management in The City studied Business Information Technology graduating in 2011. Jonny popped the question on ‘Pig Island’ on the shores of the Ards Peninsula on Strangford Lough on a blustery Saturday afternoon. (note added 11/05/2021)
Sean Bradley, MEng Civil Engineering 1989, has recently been appointed Director with Farrans Construction Ltd. Sean can be contacted at sbradley@farrans.com.
Nicola Cherry (née Brown), BSSc Sociology 1989, MSSc 2004, established Nicola Brown Associates in February 2007, offering human resource support and guidance to companies across Ireland. A very successful first trading year has made Nicola wish she had made the leap to self-employment and entrepreneurship years ago! Nicola Brown Associates can help companies of any size with any employee related issues offering an employment cradle-to-grave support. Nicola can be contacted at nicola@nicolabrownassociates.com.
Daniel McConnell, BSc Chemistry 1989, was recently admitted as a Partner in Deloitte where he will have responsibility for leading the Technology Practice in Northern Ireland delivering technology enabled solutions across the public and private sectors. Daniel can be contacted at dcconnell@deloitte.co.uk.
Nicky McMeekin, BDS 1989, has finally settled down in Exeter with husband Paul and daughter Katie (3), after 16 years as a dental officer in both the Royal Army and Royal Navy Dental Corps. She is now a Principal of a two-chair private dental practice in Exeter and is currently looking to move into partnership with her associate. Nicky can be contacted at nmcmeekin@tesco.net.
Rowan Parks, MB BCh 1989, was promoted to Reader in Surgery at the University of Edinburgh in 2006. Then in 2008 he was appointed Associate Postgraduate Dean (Surgery), SE Scotland. Rowan can be contacted at Rowan@Parks6.freeserve.co.uk.
Veronica Pedro, MSc Architecture 1989, was awarded a PhD in Linguistic Studies from the Universidade Federal Fluminense, in Rio de Janeiro in 2006. She has worked as a lecturer, teacher of English, and architect having been involved in the conservation and restoration of the cultural heritage in the state of Rio de Janeiro. She is currently a lecturer in English language at tertiary level government institutions in Brazil. Veronica can be contacted at vsilveiraen@ig.com.br.
Colin Annette, BEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1988, obtained an MBA from London Business School in 1994. He moved into the telecoms industry working for Japanese, American and British companies in a variety of roles. He then took two years out to travel and work round the world. He is currently Director of Portfolio Development for BT's Wholesale division. He is married to Gill from Huddersfield with their first baby on the way. Colin can be contacted at colin.annette@bt.com.
Roger Brown, MB BCh BAO 1988, is married to Sandra and they have two boys and two girls aged between 6 and 15 years. As well as working in general practice for 17 years Roger has been an audit facilitator, a clinical governance lead, and is now helping to run a drug rehabilitation unit. He is still very involved in church related activities. Roger can be contacted at roger.brown@nhs.net.
Laurence Davidson, BSc (Econ) Honours 1988, has worked within procurement in the Northern Ireland manufacturing industry since graduating. He is currently a procurement administrator for Coca Cola in Lisburn. Laurence can be contacted at l.davidson@ntlworld.com.
Kathy Elder, BEng Chemical Engineering 1988, became part of the family business in South Florida where they sell high-end electronics and home theatre interiors. She married a man from Ballymoney 15 years ago and they have three kids (aged 12, 10, and 9). Visitors are always welcome! Kathy can be contacted at kathy@cinemadesigngroup.com.
Stephen Garvey, BEng Civil Engineering 1988, wishes to remind everyone from the civil engineering class of 1988 that their 21st anniversary is coming up next year. Stephen and a few others (Bernard, Ciaran etc) are thinking of having a reunion bash at Queens. If there is any interest out there please contact Stephen at ddsl@eircom.net.
Stephen McIlwaine, BEng Civil Engineering 1988, PhD 1992, has been living and working as a consultant in the Middle East for the past nine years. He has just begun work with the World Bank on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal Project, a project jointly coordinated by the governments of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He can be contacted at mcilwaine@bigfoot.com.
Jonathan Bramley, BSc Computer Science 1987, was the Executive Producer of the BBC's coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing. Jonathan can be contacted at jonathan.bramley@bbc.co.uk.
Ruth Capper, MB BCh BAO 1987, is settled in South Yorkshire with her husband, Dave, who thankfully has nothing to do with medicine! Ruth is a consultant ENT surgeon at Donca ster Royal Infirmary. She is sorry to have missed the reunion in March but had already committed to doing an ear surgery camp in Nepal. She did her 3rd year elective in Nepal which has led to a long term commitment. Ruth can be contacted at ruth.capper@btconnect.com.
Mary Cheung, MB BCh BAO 1987, could not attend the reunion in March but sends her best wishes to all her class mates. Mary is working as a civil servant for the Health Authority in Hong Kong and is married with three kids aged 9 to 12. Mary can be contacted at marycheung8@yahoo.com.hk.
Niall Cox, MB BCh BAO 1987, is married to Donna and they have two children: Dermot (16) and Catriona (12). Niall is still trying to kick football but has not yet reached his peak! He can be contacted at niallcox@doctors.netlink.
Stephen Dobbs, MB BCh BAO 1987, spent a year working in the Sudan before specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. He is now a sub specialist in gynaecological oncology at Belfast City Hospital. He is married to Jenny and they have three fantastic kids: Harry, Anna and Ellie. Any spare time is spent sailing, skiing and trying to keep everyone happy! Stephen can be contacted at stephendobbs@yahoo.co.uk.
David Douglas, BSSc in Accounting and Economics (1986), Diploma in Accounting (1987), trained as an accountant with KPMG in Belfast.
He recently started a walking tour business in Derry/Londonderry called Derrie Danders Walking Tours. Although accountancy is his profession, David’s passion is history and he encourages visitors to linger longer in, and enjoy a dander around the city. For further details or to contact David directly, go to https://derriedanders.co.uk/. (updated 30 October 2019)
Sheila Gunn, MB BCh BAO 1987, is a GP in Saintfield, Co Down, and her medical interests are diabetes and osteoporosis. She has three children aged 9, 11 and 14 years. Sheila can be contacted at sheila.gunn@saintfield.gp.n-i.nhs.uk.
Steven Lindsay, MB BCh BAO 1987, has been married to Jennifer for twenty years and they have two children: Laura (15) and James (13). Steven is a consultant cardiologist at the Bradford Teaching Hospital’s NHS Trust. His sub-speciality is getting out of bed at 3am to re-open occluded coronary arteries. He wonders if this is progress as it’s like being a house-officer all over again! His real interest is hill walking in Scotland with the family although the teenage children are somewhat less interested! He looks forward to retirement in the Scottish Highlands. Steven can be contacted at hsjl@btinternet.com.
Jonny McAllister, MB BCh BAO 1987, is married to Susan and they have three girls aged 9 to 13 years old. Since 1996 Jonny has been working as a partner in Castle Practice, Carrickfergus Health Centre. He enjoys unwinding at the gym, shooting clays, going on family holidays and hill walking. Jonny can be contacted and jandsmca@aol.com.
Paula McDonald, MB BCh BAO 1987, is a GP partner in Carrickfergus Health Centre and a hospital practitioner in diabetes. She is the proud owner of a fat golden Labrador and loves watching 1970s and 1980s ‘Who dunnits’! Paula can be contacted at drpaulamcdonald@btinternet.com
Joan McGuinness, MB BCh BAO 1987, is a consultant psychiatrist in learning disability with the Southern HSCT. She can be contacted at drjoan.mcguinness@southerntrust.hscni.net.
Bridget O’Rawe, MB CCh BAO 1987, is married with five wonderful children aged 5 to 16 years old! She is working part-time as a staff grade psychiatrist in the Mater Hospital and doing some private work as an EMDR (eyemovement, desensitization and reprocessing) consultant. She still sings and plays guitar (although at a lower key) and has discovered a new talent in painting and gardening – roll on retirement! Bridget can be contacted at bridgetorawe@hotmail.com.
Poh Lin Shum, MB BCh BAO 1987, is a consultant in clinical oncology. Lin Shum can be contacted at linshum@btinternet.com.
Peter Templeton, MB BCh BAO 1987, completed his basic surgical training in Belfast before moving to Yorkshire in 1993 to complete his higher surgical training in orthopaedics. He was then appointed a children’s orthopaedic surgeon at the Leeds General Infirmary. In the last nine years Peter has completed a tour of duty in Iraq, was progamme director for 80 foundation year-one doctors for four years, and more recently programme director for 69 orthopaedic speciality trainees. At present he has the unenviable task of being the clinical director for 18 consultants and 41 juniors in a 120 bed unit. Peter is married to Kate and they have three children: Robert, Sophia and William. Kate is currently finishing a degree course so everyone in the family is doing homework! Peter can be contacted at peter.templeton@leedsth.nhs.uk.
Tony Hoare, DSc 1987, has retired after 22 years as Professor of Computing at Oxford to a job in Cambridge at Microsoft Research Ltd. He is continuing the research into software correctness which he started in Belfast in 1968. It is only now that the early research is beginning to bear fruit in industrial application. Jill and Tony still enjoy occasional visits to Belfast, meeting old Queen's colleagues and ex-neighbours in Mount Pleasant. Tony can be contacted thoare@microsoft.com.
Stephen Reaney, MB Ch BAO 1987, is married to Katie, a GP, and they have three children: Daniel, Luke and Maria. After general practice training Stephen spent three years in preparation for missionary service overseas. He spent nine years at a Mission Hospital in Tanzania followed by eleven months as a GP locum at Waikanae Health Centre in New Zealand. He is currently a GP locum at Willowbank Surgery in Keady, Co Armagh. Stephen can be contacted at reaney@doctors.org.uk.
Liam Spence, MB BCh BAO 1987, is married to Maeve and they have three children: Isabella (9), Michael (6) and Stephen (4). Liam is currently a radiologist based in Cork. He can be contacted at liam.spence@hse.ie.
Graham Carson, BEng (1986), has received a prestigious award for his accounting practice – Inca – which he owns jointly with his wife, Lesley. The company, which is based in Oxford and Henley-on-Thames, was awarded the prestigious Investors in People Silver Accreditation, and is one of only 11 accounting practices to hold this honour. The company followed this up in April by being a finalist for Best Company Culture in the Business Excellence Forum Annual Awards
Alan Bridle, BSc (Econ) 1986, is currently Head of Economics and Research at Bank of Ireland and responsible for all the Bank's briefings and presentations on the local economy. He is also a co-author of the Quarterly House Price Index, widely accepted as the most definitive barometer of residential property in the region. Alan can be contacted at alan.bridle@boini.com.
Barry Corkey, BE A 1986 and MMSc 1992, had been awarded the honour of 'Dentist of the Year' by the Scottish Government. Barry works as a Senior Lecturer and Specialist in Paediatric Dentistry in Fife and Edinburgh and was recognised for his work with children with a range of disabilities and with severe dental anxiety. Barry has developed innovative services for the most vulnerable children and has been involved in teaching dentists for many years. The award was presented by the Chief Dental Officer and the Minister for Health.
Chris McGale, BSc (Econ) 1986, has just been promoted to Head of European Fundamental Research and Sales, based in London. Chris began his career in the securities industry at Ulster Bank Investment Managers (now KBC) as a buy-side investment analyst, and was Head of Research and laterally a Portfolio Manager before departing for Smith New Court Plc (later Merrill Lynch) in 1991. At Merrill Lynch, & Co Chris was a Managing Director, Global Markets and Investment Banking, as well as Merrill’s Country Manager for Ireland. After that Chris worked for three years on several personal investment initiatives, including an attempt to acquire NCB Stockbrokers, before joining Pali from MF Global Securities in London. He lives in London with his wife and four children and can be contacted at Chris.McGale@palii.com.
Maureen McManus, MA Philosophy 1986, has had a new play open in October 2009. This is a jointly co-authored work with Julek Neumann (her husband, an actor and theatre director from Prague), and is in Czech. The play, which opened in Cheb on October 3, is called Irish Dancing Among Czechs, and is a comic one-woman show about Maureen's observations and opinions on the state of Czech social behaviour, politics and Czechness. The character of Maureen is played by Diana Tonikova.
The play was devised and written in a series of spoken word encounters in English, and then written up in Czech. Maureen's first play, The Ladies Cage was produced in London in 2007 at the Finborough Theatre, and was about Anna Parnell, the forgotten sister of the famous Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell.
James Gareth (Gary) Cooper, BEd (1985), who graduated from Stranmillis College (a Queen’s affiliate college), has been awarded an OBE (appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to children with special educational needs. Gary has been Chief Executive of Middletown Centre for Autism since it was established in 2007 by the Department of Education, Northern Ireland and Department of Education and Skills, Ireland. The Centre provides training, research, learning support and assessment and advice to parents, family members and educational professionals.
Mervyn Gifford, BSc Psychology 1985, works as a senior lecturer in public health science at the University of Skvde in Sweden. He is currently undertaking research into diet and inflammatory processes in coronary heart disease. Mervyn can be contacted at mervyn.gifford@his.se.
Paul Parker, MB BCh BAO (1985), has been appointed Senior Lecturer within the NATO SOF Development Initiative at University College Cork. He continues to work, training and operating in small surgical teams in remote austere environments and directs the Royal College of Surgeons of England's Damage Control Orthopaedics Trauma Skills Course.
Michael Pakenham, BA French and Spanish 1985, is now living in France where he is an English Language Lecturer at Caen University in Normandy. Michael can be contacted at michael.pakenham@wanadoo.fr.
Tony C K Tham, MB BCH BAO 1985, MD 1990, completed his training as an Advanced Gastroenterology Fellow at Harvard Medical School. He has been Consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist in the Ulster Hospital, since 1997. During this time, he has developed gastroenterology services in the Ulster Hospital, especially in therapeutic endoscopy and ERCP. He is Head of the School of Postgraduate Medicine, sits on many specialist committees and is an examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and also Queen’s. He has had many papers published, is the author of several books and has won awards as a reviewer. His achievements have been recognised by inclusion is Who’s Who. He is married with three daughters, aged 18, 16 and 13. Tony can be contacted at ttham@utvinternet.com.
Jim Harra, LLB Law 1984, read law at Queen’s University in Belfast before joining the Inland Revenue in 1984 as inspector of taxes. He then made a career move to become a civil servant working for HMRC, where he has worked in various roles. His first role (2009) was Director of Corporation Tax and VAT. 2011 was a busy year as he took on the role of Director of Personal Tax Customer Operations in March and Director Personal Tax Operations in October.
In April 2012, Jim moved into the role of Director General Business Tax, then he became Tax Assurance Commissioner and Director General Customer Strategy and Design 2016). Then in November 2017, he succeeded Edward Troup in the role of Second Permanent Secretary of HMRC.
Jim’s other life achievements include his appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2015 New Year Honours. He is also HMRC’s LGBT Champion.
Jim is 28th on the Accountancy Age Financial Power List 2018:
Following the retirement of Edward Troup last year, Jim assumes the post in HMRC at a time when the revenue authority is undergoing a significant transformation project. With Making Tax Digital fast approaching and Brexit negotiations ongoing, Jim has his work cut out to overcome the inevitable challenges that HMRC will encounter this year.
William McDowell, BA Modern History and Politics 1984, was ordained in July 2015 at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford as a deacon in the Church of England. William’s curacy will be in East Downland in the Newbury Deanery.
Dermot Breen, BSc Civil Engineering 1983, long distance walker and writer (aka ‘The Man with the Camino Tattoo’), has embarked on his third 1,000 kilometre trek in memory of his late wife, Jacqui, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. This time he is tackling the rugged Ireland Way, which was only launched late last year and stretches from Castletownbere on the Beara Peninsula in Co Cork to Ballycastle on the North Antrim coast, a journey that will take him five to six weeks to complete by covering up to 20 miles per day.
In 2015, Dermot walked the entire Ulster Way around Northern Ireland and in 2016 he walked the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. In 2017, he took a break from long distance walking to concentrate on writing and has since had two books published charting his physical and emotional journeys since he lost his beloved wife of 28 years to ovarian cancer in January 2015. He set off on the Ireland Way on 20 June.
Dermot’s latest book, ‘The Man with the Camino Tattoo’, covering his experiences during his Spanish Camino de Santiago venture, has just been published by the Belfast based publisher, Shanway Press.
Dermot hopes to raise £7,500 for Cancer Research UK through his latest walk, which will push his fundraising total since 2015 to £40,000. People can either support him by donating to his fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/1000k4j or by purchasing one of his books from Shanway Press at http://shanway.com/product/the-man-with-the-camino-tattoo/ or via Amazon, as he also donates all sales revenue to the charity.
You can follow Dermot‘s progress on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/1000k4j/
Marie Anderson, LLB (1983), has recently taken up the role of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
A qualified solicitor by profession, she was previously Public Services Ombudsman. The appointment is for seven years during which time Ms Anderson will be responsible for an annual budget of £9 million and a staff of 150 dealing, on average, with 2,500 complaints against the PSNI each year.
The holder of two other statutory offices, Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards and Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman, Ms Anderson was previously the Assistant Information Commissioner for Northern Ireland for five years and established the Information Commissioner’s office in Northern Ireland.
Prior to this, she worked in private practice for several years in civil litigation and then as a legal assistant and senior legal assistant at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
Adarsh Kumar Dhawan, MSc Opto Electronics 1983, had served nine years in the Indian Army when he was selected to go to Queen’s to study for an MSc. Due to his degree he became a Brigadier in the Army and retired in January 2008. In his second career he has joined the corporate sector dealing with real estate! Adarsh can be contacted at dhawan_akd05@rediffmail.com.
Brian Flanagan, BA Celtic Studies 1983, spent ten years in England working mainly in local government. During this time he qualified as a Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (CIMA). He returned to work in Dublin and has been there since in a variety of accounting positions. In 2004 he graduated from the Open University with an MBA. He presently works as a financial controller in Dublin. He lives in Navan, Co Meath and has a keen interest in politics, representing the Green Party for the constituency of Meath West in the Republic’s Dáil election of 2007. Brian can be contacted at brianflanagan@iolfree.ie.
Domenico Camplisson, BA Modern History 1982, was selected to be General Education Dept Chairman and elected to be the Faculty Senate Chairman at Coleman University in San Diego California . Domenico can be reached at Dcamplisson@Coleman.edu
Paul Miller, PhD English 1982, and his wife Carol Miller (née Hunter), BA Arts General 1975, Postgraduate Diploma Library and Information Services 1978, retired from their positions in Stowe School, Buckingham in August 2015. Paul and Carol would be delighted to hear from contemporaries from their University days, including those involved in the Drama Society. carolmiller52@btinternet.com
Colum Mulhern, BSc Architecture 1982, has been working as an architect in Luxembourg since 1984, first as an employee of Hermann and Valentiny, and then opening a practice with Lucien Steil. He has been a collaborator of Leon Krier since December 1991. Colum can be contacted at cmulhern@pt.lu.
Eugene O’Hagan, BA English and Scholastic Philosophy 1982, his brother Fr Martin and colleague Fr David Delargy, all graduates of Queen’s and priests of the Diocese of Down and Connor, secured a recording deal with Sony BMG in April 2008. Their album is due for release in November 2008 and bookies are taking bets on the chances of the CD making it into the UK and Ireland’s Top 10 or even Number one slot this Christmas! Eugene can be contacted at freohagan@hotmail.com.
Ruth Reynard, BA English 1982, is currently working with Career Education Corporation, which owns colleges and universities in the US and Europe, as their dean of faculty services. Ruth can be contacted at rreynard@careered.com.
Dr Øystein Fardal, BDS (1981), MDS (1987), PhD (2002) Øystein has been awarded an honorary Professorship by the Court of Aberdeen University in the Institute of Education for Medical and Dental Sciences within the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition.
A past president of the Norwegian Periodontal Society, and the Scandinavian Society of Periodontology, he runs a practice specialising in periodontology and implantology in Egersund, Norway.
Rosemary Lim (née Wright), BA 1981, is the new President of the Irish Graduates’ Association of Singapore. The current Vice-President is fellow alumna, Dr Lee Sze Min, MB BCh BAO 1994. It is the first occasion that both roles have been held by Queen’s graduates and the first time the Association has elected two women to the senior positions.
Florence Madden (née McCartney), BSSc Economic History (1981), set up her own Management Development Consultancy in North West England in 2002 and now runs open and bespoke courses largely based on NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
Florence published her first book The Intention Impact Conundrum in April 2018 and is currently co-writing her second Everyday NLP with her friend and associate Eleni Sarantinou, who is based in Kuala Lumpur.
For more go to www.florencemadden.co.uk
David Dunlop, BSc Zoology 1980, is Senior Conservation Officer for Policy & Advocacy at The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside, where he’s worked since 1992 having previously worked for Ulster Wildlife and then the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. He’s married with one teenage daughter. He may be contacted on email at: DunlopD195@gmail.com (personal); ddunlop@lancswt.org.uk (professional) and tweets for work on @LancsWT_d.
William Jensen, BSSc Philosophy 1980, was elected to a Fellowship at Exeter College, Oxford in September 2007, after 24 years in the investment industry in the City of London. He is now Finance and Estates Bursar, responsible for financial planning and the investment of endowments. William can be contacted at william.jensen@exeter.ox.ac.uk.
James Morrow, MB BCh BAO 1980, MD 1993, PhD 2008, qualified as a doctor in 1980 and achieved an MD in 1993. He has been working as a Consultant Neurologist at the Royal Group of hospitals since 1989. Nevertheless he always felt that he didn't quite live up to the customary Northern Ireland greeting, ' Doctor, doctor, doctor,’ so he is happy to report that having achieved the degree of Doctor of Philosophy this year, he can now respond to this epithet. James can be contacted at morrowji@aol.com.