Mairead celebrates 25 years at the helm of Glenshane Community Development Ltd

Dr. Mairead McCormack is celebrating 25 years employment with Glenshane Community Development Limited in Dungiven today (June 1).

She was first appointed Project Manager in 1998, then Manager and now Chief Executive.

Over this period, GCD has undertaken many projects – including environmental improvements to Dungiven Main Street, the restoration of Dungiven Castle, the construction of Phase II of Glenshane Enterprise Centre, the acquisition of McCloskey House and sustaining the services of Dungiven Community Resource Centre.

Her primary degree was the BSc (Hons) in Housing with Diploma in Industrial Studies, for which she shared the Chartered Institute of Housing Prize for Best Overall Student in her graduating class from Ulster University. Upon her commencement with GCD Ltd, she transferred the skills of residential tenancy management to commercial tenancies and went on to undertake studies which would support in the management of a rurally located social enterprise. This resulted in her gaining an MSc in Rural Development from Queen’s University, the Advanced Diploma in Management Practice and the Advanced Diploma in Social Enterprise – both from the Ulster Business School at Ulster University and the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management from the ILM. In addition to this, she holds a certificate in New Perspectives of Economic Development from QUB and the Level 5 Diploma in Practical Economics from the Institute of Leadership and Management.

She holds a Doctorate in Childhood Studies from Queen’s University and has overseen a number of projects supporting children, teenagers and young adults for Glenshane Community Development Limited. These include the Wider Horizons trans-national project, delivered in the Roe Valley, Co Leitrim and Canada, on behalf of the International Fund for Ireland; delivery of the Active Families programme on behalf of the Western Trust and as a facilitator for ASCERT (Action on Substances through Community Education and Related Training) on their parenting programme.

In order to support migrant workers who were coming to Dungiven and presenting to Glenshane Community Development Limited for assistance, Mairead and Mary Brolly, Administrator with GCD, undertook training in Manchester to qualify as Immigration Advisors with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner in 2007 for which they complete annual continual professional development to keep their registrations alive. Mairead served for five years as a Board Member of the Foyle Multi-Cultural Forum. In addition to this, she has undertaken significant international study, studying Rural Development and EU Rural Policy at the Irish College in Leuven, Belgium; undertaking an Intensive Management & Development Training Programme at Boston College University, Massachusetts and attending the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as a Santander Scholar.

Owing to Glenshane Community Development Limited’s work promoting good relations and positive cross community interaction, she undertook part-time study with Queen’s University to complete her qualifications in “Managing Conflict Through Dialogue Within The Shared Future Of Northern Ireland” and “Developing Facilitation Skills – Skills for Peace and Reconciliation” to support cross community working. She was appointed onto the organisational team which coordinated the Peace-x-Piece International Conference, held in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. There, she had responsibility for overseeing the Janet Benshoof workshop which covered the activities of the Global Justice Centre in New York and the Yvonne Galligan Lecture on Democracy within the European Union. Mairead has sat on each of the local EU Special Programme for Peace and Reconciliation Peace boards since their inception in Northern Ireland. She has represented Northern Ireland Rural Women as part of a delegation which made a presentation to the United Nations 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women which was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The presentation was entitled “Emerging from Conflict - What has been the experience of Northern Ireland Women?”

Reflecting on her 25 year tenure, Mairead said: “I am very grateful for the opportunities afforded to me by Glenshane Community Development Limited. I have met really amazing people and been part of a variety of remarkable projects over the years.”