The Historic Buildings Council (HBC) has been strengthened with five new appointments.

Mr Kyle Leyden, Dr Donal McAnallen, Mr Liam McKinley, Dr Wills McNeilly and Mrs Carol Ramsey have been named the new members with effect from 01 July 2022 until 30 June 2025.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has also appointed six new Members to the Historic Monuments Council (HMC) with effect from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2027.      

They include Dr Liam Campbell, Ms Alice Devlin, Dr Patrick Gleeson, Mr Ciaran Lavelle, Mr Niall McCaughan and Dr Cormac McSparron.

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Both Councils are Advisory Non-Departmental Public Bodies sponsored by the Department for Communities. Each consists of a Chair and up to 14 other Members who possess a range of interest and expertise on relevant matters.

HBC was established in 1974 and is currently constituted under Section 198 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. The aim of HBC is to provide independent advice to the Department on the listing of buildings, the general state of listed buildings and other matters relating to their preservation.

HMC was established in 1971 with the responsibilities of the Council principally laid out in Article 22 of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995. The purpose of HMC is to advise the Department on the exercise of its powers under this Order.