Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland
The Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland advises Ofcom about the interests and opinions, in relation to communications matters, of people living in Northern Ireland.
The Committee usually meets five times a year. The Committee’s minutes are provided to the Ofcom Board.
The remit of the Advisory Committee is to:
- seek to identify issues affecting the communications and postal sectors in Northern Ireland, both collectively as a Committee and individually for Members, with particular reference to the sectors where they have particular knowledge or expertise
- to provide advice to Ofcom about general and specific issues concerning the communications and postal sectors arising within Northern Ireland
- to provide advice and comment as required on matters brought to the Committee by Ofcom
- to offer comment as appropriate on consultations undertaken by Ofcom
- where requested by the Content Board, to provide specific advice to that Board on matters relating to television, radio and other content on services regulated by Ofcom
- when so requested by the Ofcom Board, to provide advice to the Communications Consumer Panel on matters affecting consumers in Northern Ireland in the communications sector.
- to produce an annual report reflecting issues within the communications and postal sectors in Northern Ireland
10 March 2020
1 June 2020
9 September 2020
25 November 2020
Carrie Matchett (Chair)
Carrie Matchett is a self-employed consultant specialising in governance and strategy. She has over twenty years’ experience working in audience-facing roles for the BBC in Northern Ireland and across the UK. Most recently she led the Northern Ireland office of the BBC Trust, working to ensure that the views of local stakeholders and audiences impacted on major decisions about the BBC, its strategy and services. She has a strong interest in representing consumer interests in the rapidly developing communications sector.
Carrie is Chair of Thrive, the charity which leads audience development across the arts and culture sector in Northern Ireland. She joined the ACNI on 1 June 2018 and her appointment runs until 30 April 2022.
John Ellison
John Ellison is a modern languages graduate who worked for BT for 36 years, transferring from London to Northern Ireland in 1987. In the last 17 years of his time with BT he took over responsibility for, amongst other things, the regulatory and regulatory compliance interfaces for BT in Northern Ireland. He also represented BT Northern Ireland interests in regulation and regulatory compliance at BT Group level, as well as, latterly, having a broader strategic regulatory/compliance role across various BT lines of business.
John joined the ACNI on 1 September 2017. His appointment runs until 31 August 2023.
Alan Meban
Alan Meban is a freelance journalist, videographer and social media coach who reports from civic, academic and political events, chairs discussions, reviews films and theatre performances, and live-tweets, streams and records lectures and conferences. For 21 years, Alan was a designer and enterprise architect in IT departments at BT supporting a range of lines of business as well as external customers. He was appointed to the BBC Audience Council of Northern Ireland (2007–2012). He is a director of Northern Ireland’s independent fact checking organisation FactCheckNI, convenes the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s IT Panel, and is a member of the Corrymeela Community.
Alan joined the ACNI on 1 September 2017. His appointment runs until 31 August 2023.
Phil Flanagan
Phil is a former MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, and also a former Deputy Chair of the Assembly’s Enterprise Committee. Outside of politics, he has worked in the telecoms and not-for-profit sectors and currently works in the manufacturing industry.
Phil joined the ACNI on 17 December 2018. His appointment runs until 16 December 2021.
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As well as the appointed Members of the Advisory Committee, the Content Board Member, and the Communications Consumer Panel Member for the respective Nations are invited to attend Advisory Committee Meetings.
In Northern Ireland this is:
- Richard Hill MBE - Communications Consumer Panel
- Vacancy - Content Board