NI Homelessness Conference

Richard Ramsey is a well-known face and voice in Northern Ireland, commenting on a range of economic and business issues over the years. For the last 17 years, Richard was Chief Economist with Ulster Bank.

Richard is currently ‘between jobs’ with announcements on that front to come in coming months.  Richard is a board member of the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall and the Queen’s Business School Advisory Board at Queen’s University Belfast.

Barbara’s background has predominantly been as an integrative counselling practitioner. Her career started in 1997 within statutory and third sectors. Barbara’s range has been working within children and family services, criminal justice, substance misuse and presently focusing on homelessness.

Barbara has worked for over 9 years within Social Bite, which is a non-profit social business as the Social Impact Innovation Lead. During her time at Social Bite Barbara has played a pivotal role in the scale of large projects. A great motivator is knowing you can make an impact for good causes. 

Ray has over 30 years’ experience working with complex combinations of unmet needs around trauma, housing, unemployment, mental-health, and problematic substance use. He has developed a comprehensive 5 dayworkforce training programme, which the University of Lincoln have independently evaluated very positively, and has several chapters published in books on training. 

Previously, he has set up and managed ‘personality disorder’ services, been a senior care co-coordinator in an early intervention in psychosis service. Ray also has past personal lived experience surviving childhood trauma, recovery from addiction and surviving psychiatric services – an experience which motivates him persevere working and training in this sector. 

Paddy Gray is an established academic and has wide experience of academic and applied research with over 400 publications. In 2010 he was appointed the first Irish President of CIH. He is Chair of the Wheatley Foundation Scotland and on the boards of Connswater Homes and Advice North West. He is Chair of Tuath Housing, iCare Housing, a member of Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and Chair of its Research Committee.

In England he is on the board of Safeagent and External Examiner at Leeds Beckett University and CIH. In 2017 named the top power player in housing in the UK and in 2019 was awarded an OBE. He is a member of the Housing Commission ROI and recently received a lifetime achievement award at the Aico Community Awards in Birmingham.

Professor Vikki McCall is an expert in co-production, facilitation and networking, leading projects focusing on housing, ageing and future-proofing society. Vikki is co-founder and Creative Director of the social enterprise Socialudo, who deliver Serious Games. Socialudo was established to use serious gaming to facilitate and help diverse groups plan and think about how we future-proof society and make research impact.

Vikki is currently Principal Investigator on the Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing (ISPA) project (an ESRC funded project 2022-2027) and is leading the Inclusive Living Alliance looking to combat stigma in relation to place, age and disability. Vikki is Honorary Secretary for the Social Policy Association Executive Committee and Editorial Board member of Social Policy & Society.

Iain Cameron (AKA Buff) is the Project manager for Externs Harm Reduction Drug and Alcohol projects in Belfast. He is responsible for the day to day management of Externs Street Injectors Support Team (SISS), SISS Social Worker, Needle Exchange service, Drug Accommodation Project (DASP) and Alcohol Housing Support Service, he also delivers Externs Drug Training which includes Naloxone Administration and Train the trainer courses, Safer Injecting, Needle Exchange Training, Cocaine Harm Reduction.

Iain is also involved in the identifying and developing of Harm Reduction services in the Belfast area. He has been working in the field of Harm Reduction for 20+ years and has been involved in designing, establishing and running many Harm Reduction services. Iain was part of developing the Drug Outreach Team (DOT) and worked as an outreach worker in that team for 10years before being seconded to Extern to establish the DASP project. Iain has a history of IV drug use giving him a greater understanding of the many problems and barriers service users face on a daily basis and identifying gaps in service to meet the needs of some of the most marginalised people in our community.

Sian Erickson has a wealth of experience working with vulnerable individuals across various roles, including as a specialist palliative care nurse and within safeguarding teams in health visiting. Her experience in palliative care enabled her to provide holistic care and develop empathy in handling difficult conversations. However, she observed that the safeguarding system was more complex, often placing parents under increased pressure without accounting for environmental factors such as poverty, transient housing, and loneliness.

Sian has led efforts to co-produce services alongside parents, focusing on peer support and advocacy within the safeguarding framework. Recently, she successfully secured funding for a co-produced service aimed at amplifying parents’ voices and helping keep children safely at home.

Sian is a director with PIEPR and a trustee for Vale Domestic Abuse Services and serves on the Executive Board of the Parents, Families, and Allies Network (PFAN).

Dermot Murphy is Director of Services & Development in Depaul. Dermot has worked in the drugs and homeless sector since 2001. He has experience in working with a number of approaches from low threshold harm reduction through to stabilisation and recovery focused services. He holds an Advanced Diploma in Project Management, Diploma in Human Resource Management and also an MASoSc in Third Sector Management.

Mark joined Homeless Connect in 2021. He studied Law with Politics at Queens University Belfast before going on to work for a social policy charity in Belfast.

Mark leads on our policy and public affairs work. He provides the secretariat for the All Party on Homelessness at the Northern Ireland Assembly and regularly engages with policymakers and elected representatives across the political spectrum on issues related to homelessness.

Nicola joined Homeless Connect in 2020. She has worked in housing and homelessness for her entire career and believes in collaboration and the involvement of people with lived experience in ending homelessness.

Nicola has worked across Ireland and the UK where she has gained experience in governance, strategic and business planning, financial management, public policy, and research. Previously she was a senior associate with Campbell Tickell, Chartered Institute of Housing Director NI/ROI and Policy Manager with Housing Rights.

Nicola is studying a Masters Degree in Social Science Research.

Jim Dennison has been Chief Executive of the Simon Community NI since January 2014. Prior to this, Jim was Head of Operations at the Chartered Institute of Housing – a professional membership body supporting those who work in housing and homelessness.

He holds an Honours Degree in Politics from the Queen’s University of Belfast and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Regional and Local Development from the Dublin Institute of Technology.

John O’Connor is widely considered to be one of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the Irish housing sector and is known for his collaborative approach across all sectors – public, private, and not-for-profit.

John is the former Chair of The Housing Commission and former Chief Executive Officer of The Housing Agency. Previous roles included Chief Executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, and Executive Manager of the Housing & Communities Department in Dublin City Council.

In each of these roles, John played a key role in addressing homeless in Ireland. He oversaw homeless services, homeless research and was involved in the provision of accommodation for homeless individuals and families.

John also worked in the construction industry before moving to local government. He is a Chartered Engineer and holds qualifications in other areas including governance and project management.

He has extensive experience in the management, development, provision, and direct delivery of housing, particularly in the areas of social housing, affordable housing, and regeneration projects. In addition, he has particular interest in the areas of sustainability, integration, disability and building standards.

John has served on a wide range of boards and committees; and as chair on a number of these. Currently, he serves on the Programme Board for International Protection.