Sir Kenneth Percy Bloomfield, KCB (born 15 April 1931), is a former

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of the

Northern Ireland Civil Service The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS; ga, Státseirbhís Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Cïvil Sarvice'') is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, ...

(NICS) who was later a member of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains and, for a time, Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner. In addition to this, he has held a variety of public sector posts in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and elsewhere.

Early and personal life

Ken Bloomfield was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, to English parents in 1931. He grew up close to

Neill's Hill railway station Neill's Hill railway station is a disused railway station / halt on the main line of the Belfast and County Down Railway. It ran from Queen's Quay, Belfast south to Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland. When the Belfast and County Down ...

, East Belfast. Between the years of 1943 and 1949, he attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution ('Inst') and later went on to read Modern History at St Peter's College, Oxford. He is married with two children. On 12 September 1988, he and his wife were the targets of an

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attack on their home in

Crawfordsburn Crawfordsburn () is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village, which is now effectively a commuter suburb, lies between Holywood and Bangor to the north of the A2 road, about 4 km west of Bangor town centre. Bounded to ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

; neither Bloomfield nor his wife were injured in the blast.

Public sector career

Having joined the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1952, Bloomfield was appointed Permanent Secretary to the

power sharing Power sharing is a practice in conflict resolution where multiple groups distribute political, military, or economic power among themselves according to agreed rules. It can refer to any formal framework or informal pact that regulates the distri ...

executive in 1974. After the collapse of the executive, he went on to become Permanent Secretary for the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(D.o.E.) and the Department of Economic Development, and finally

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service There has been a Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service since Sir Ernest Clark was appointed the first holder of that office in 1921. As of 2017 and according to the Executive Office, the Head of the 23,500-people strong NICS "has primary lead ...

on 1 December 1984. In that capacity, he was the most senior advisor to successive

Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

and other Ministers on a wide range of issues. He retired from the post in April 1991. Since retiring from the NICS, Bloomfield has embarked on a life of involvement in a diverse range of organisations. He has taken up roles such as Chairman for the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission and his alma mater, the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He has also been involved in the political reform of the

States of Jersey The States Assembly (french: Assemblée des États; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable of each of the twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of Jersey lie in the system o ...

and spearheaded the Association for Quality Education, which fought to retain academic selection in the Northern Ireland education system. In December 1997 he was asked by the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, to become the Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner for a fixed term. His role was to produce a report on the way forward for Victims issues in Northern Ireland. His report entitled ''We Will Remember Them'' was published in April 1998. From 1991 to 1999 he served as the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's National Governor for Northern Ireland.

Honours

Bloomfield received a

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the

1987 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

and has received honorary doctorates from The Queen's University of Belfast, The Open University and the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. He is also a Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

(RIA).

Works

* ''A New Life'' (2008) * ''A Tragedy of Errors'' (2007) * ''We will remember them'' (1998) * ''Stormont in Crisis, a memoir'' (1994) * "The BBC at the Watershed" (2008)

References

External links