Members of the RCVS Council have
elected Niall Connell as the new Junior
Vice-President for 2018 to 2019 and
confirmed Amanda Boag as President
for the same year.
Members elected Niall as Junior
Vice-President at a meeting of Council
on 8 March, where a number of other
appointments were confirmed, including Amanda as President, Professor
Stephen May as Senior Vice-President,
Kit Sturgess as Treasurer, Susan Dawson as Chair of Education Committee
and Kate Richards as Chair of Standards Committee.
Niall qualified from the University
of Glasgow’s School of Veterinary
Medicine in 1982 and worked in mixed
practice in Fife before joining the PDSA
in 1984. He was Senior Veterinary Surgeon at the Glasgow East PDSA PetAid
Hospital for 15 years, during which
time he was an honorary lecturer at
Glasgow vet school and an examiner.
Niall took ill-health retirement from
clinical practice in 2009 due to multiple
sclerosis and now works as a Clinical
and Professional Skills Instructor at
Glasgow vet school.
He was elected to RCVS Council in
2013 and has served on the Audit and
Risk and Education Committees, as
Vice-Chair of Veterinary Nurses Council and as a veterinary assessor during
the two alternative dispute resolution
trials with Ombudsman Services and, latterly, the
Veterinary Client Mediation
Service.
In asking for
RCVS Council
members’
votes, Niall
said: “I am passionate about
highlighting RCVS’ work, achievements
and ethos in person and on several
social media platforms to maximise
engagement with our professions and with undergraduates. I have an
excellent relationship with RCVS staff
which is very important. I relish the
prospect of working with my fellow
Council members, College staff and
our professional colleagues in the eld
for the best outcomes.
“The College is immersed in many
important projects such as Vet/VN Futures, Mind Matters, graduate
outcomes, career pathways and One
Health, as well as Brexit, global positioning and the Veterinary Surgeons
Act. I would devote all my time and
energy to being RCVS Vice-President/President.”
Niall, along with other members of
the College’s Officer Team, will take
up their positions at RCVS Day 2018,
which takes place at the Royal Institute
of British Architects on 13 July.
