The office of the NI Ombudsman, now known as the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO), was first established 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 ...

in 1969. The role of an independent

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

was originally created as a response to the

Northern Ireland civil rights movement The Northern Ireland civil rights movement dates to the early 1960s, when a number of initiatives emerged in Northern Ireland which challenged the inequality and discrimination against ethnic Irish Catholics that was perpetrated by the Ulster Pr ...

, and complaints of institutional bias and discrimination in the areas of housing and jobs. Among the office's governing statutes were the Commissioner for Complaints Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, and the later Ombudsman (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and Commissioner for Complaints (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. In April 2016, under the Public Services Ombudsman Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, the Office of Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) was established to consolidate the former offices of Assembly Ombudsman and Commissioner for Complaints into a single office. The act also expanded the functions of the newly consolidated office. The ombudsman's function is to investigate complaints about most public services in Northern Ireland. The complainant must usually have exhausted the complaints process of the public body first. The Ombudsman may look at complaints about health care, social care, education, housing, local and central government, and on the clinical judgment of health and social care professionals. Previous holders of the office have included

Stephen McGonagle Stephen McGonagle (17 November 1914 – 4 March 2002) was a Northern Irish and Irish trade unionist. Born in Derry, Ireland, McGonagle worked as a plumber.Andrew Finlay, ''Saothar'', Vol. 27, pp.10-12, Irish Labour History Society He joined the D ...

Jill McIvor Frances Jill McIvor (née Anderson; born 10 August 1930 - 8 January 2019) was a Northern Irish barrister who was the first woman to serve as Northern Ireland Ombudsman and Commissioner for Complaints (1991–93). In 1953 McIvor married the Uls ...

Gerry Burns Gerry Burns (1934–2020) was a senior civil servant in Northern Ireland renown for his report on education termed the ''Burns Report''. Gerry Burns was born in the Falls Road, Belfast district on November 15, 1934. He attended St. Mary's Chris ...

Maurice Hayes Maurice Hayes (8 July 1927 – 23 December 2017) was an Ireland, Irish public servant and, late in life, an independent member of the 21st and 22nd Seanad Éireann, Seanads. Hayes was Nominated members of Seanad Éireann, nominated by the Taoisea ...

, Tom Frawley, and Marie Anderson. Since mid-2020, the ombudsman has been Margaret Kelly.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.nipso.org.uk/ Ombudsmen in Northern Ireland Ombudsman posts