Mild-mannered PR man with multi-award winning Belfast agency, JComms. Specialise in critical situations, personal and corporate reputation building and maintenance. Currently advising a range of organisations and companies including charities and public sector, utilities-scale offshore wind energy project, techstart-ups and manufacturers on stakeholder, corporate and consumer comms. Early personal failures include unsuccessful bid for Bachelor of Music at Queen's University Belfast. Substituted musical career with political sciences bachelor degree from Portsmouth Polytechnic and Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris. Entered journalism in Washington DC in 1984 with two-year paid internship at National Geographic Society. Happy years in London at IPC then three years in Madrid as a stringer for Sports Illustrated, Time and other titles until entering the dark side to become PR man in 1992 with Tourism NI. Five years at Citigate Dewe Rogerson from 1996 to JPR, now JComms Ltd, in 2001. Former chairman of the Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC), stepped down from the MAC board of trustees after 25 years earlier in 2023. Board member of Newry Chamber Music/Fews Ensemble and Armagh's John O'Connor Writing School.

Every week for almost 16 years I have eaten out and reported on a restaurant so you don't have to. NI restaurants, cafes, bistros, take-aways, are much better than you'd think. But there are still too many stinkers.Member of Food & Wine Ireland Restaurant Awards judging panel; chief judge, Irish Curry Awards.Co judge with chef Danni Barry on BBC1’s Farm To Feast: Best menu wins hosted by Eamon Holmes.Love engaging as MC for food conferences and chairing food summits. I help small food producers generate greater visibility for themselves and their produce.

Men and women still not taking the massive and scandalous gender inequalities seriously enough mean the rest of us have to agitate for change. Agitating through Women in Business might not be the most obvious route to rebellion but it's not a bad start.

Good at building visibility for organisations and their work. Also good at fixing and protecting damaged or threatened reputations.

MAC board member since 1999 and was part of the management team that created the £18m, six-storey performing, visual, dance and comedy arts palace is the pulsating heart of Belfast. Very proud of Allianz Arts & Business award for work on MAC.Conducted a TEDx Stormont talk on why the arts are as critical to our economy and society as education and health.

Raise funds, build relationships with the statutory bodies, maintain course towards opening the £18m MAC in 2012.