Will Haire - Permanent Secretary

Will Haire was educated at Queens’ College Cambridge and has a Masters from the University of Ulster. He joined the NI Civil Service in 1980, and was a Private Secretary to Ministers for Economic Development, Finance and Agriculture. From 1990 to 1993 he was seconded to the UK Permanent Representation to the European Council in Brussels.

On return to Belfast he became the Director for Equality and Industrial Relations in the Department of Economic Development, followed by three years as Director of International Marketing in the Industrial Development Board.  Will joined the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in January 2000, as Director of the Economic Policy Unit and in January 2002 became the Office’s Second Permanent Secretary. In December 2003 he became Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning and in January 2006 he transferred to be the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education.