About NIHGT Committee
The NIGHT is a committee led organisation.
Committee Officers
President - Paddy Mackie
NIHGT were delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Paddy Mackie as our President in March 2019
Paddy was a Research & Development engineer in the family business of James Mackie & Sons. Outside his commitment to Mackies were his twin interests of ornithology and horticulture. These were fulfilled when on building a house on the barren point of Mahee Island he planted a shelter belt of trees, dug a duck pond and established a ringing station for migratory waders and waterfowl.
Over the years an impressive and expansive woodland garden was coaxed into existence, thousands of waterfowl were ringed and with his concern for the conservation issues of Strangford Lough, The Castle Espie Conservation Centre near Comber was opened in 1982.
In 2004 he received an MBE for services to conservation in Northern Ireland and in 2021 was awarded the A.J. Waley Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in recognition of his contribution to the cultivation of rhododendrons.
Chairman - Terence Reeves-Smyth
Terence Reeves-Smyth is an archaeologist, architectural and garden historian who has published many books and papers on a range of subjects. He was formerly Senior Inspector with the Historic Environment Division (HED) of Northern Ireland and now devotes much of his time to researching and publishing various aspects of architectural and garden history; currently he is writing a book about the nursery and seed trade in Ireland.
terence.reeves-smyth@nihgt.org
Honorary Treasurer - Mike Burrows B.A., F.C.A.
Mike is married with 3 children. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied Business Studies. He then qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Belfast, after which he joined the company Moffett Thallon and Co. Ltd. Mike became the MD of the company and acquired ownership of it. The company became a leading manufacturer, distributor and retailer of Doors and Architectural Ironmongery. He is involved in several other companies in the building and property trades. He has been an active member of various charitable organisations, currently a director of Men Against Cancer. Mike and his wife have restored Killaire House, a grade II listed dwelling, over the past years, and during that process have become enthusiastic gardeners.
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Honorary Secretary - Jackie Harte - Principal Landscape Architect at Soltys Brewster Consulting, Belfast, United Kingdom
Committee Members
Reg Maxwell - email: reg.maxwell@nihgc.org
Reg Maxwell is a retired Area Manager Belfast Parks Department-Belfast City Council Reg has over fifty years horticultural experience. He retired a few years ago from BCC where he worked within the Parks Department for thirty-eight years. During this period he exhibited and won at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show,London. As well as undertaking lectures on various horticultural topics at national and international levels he also makes regular contributions to various magazines and publications. Reg is a regular voice on the radio as a member of the Gardeners Corner team at BBC NI.
Trevor Edwards - email: trevor.edwards@nihgc.org
(NIHGT Director & Trustee)
Trevor is a lifelong self-employed Horticulturist. After 25 years of Retail Horticulture he changed direction to focus his efforts on Garden Design, Project Management, and Garden Restoration. In recent years he has been very involved in Garden Tourism. He has managed Garden Tours in Ireland, UK, most countries in Europe, USA, Japan, Grenada, Barbados, Mauritius, Switzerland, India and New Zealand. He is often consulted matters relating to Garden Tourism. Trevor frequently works as a Gardens Tour Manager with Brightwater Holidays for garden tours worldwide. Trevor has lectured on the Gardens of Ireland in many parts of the world. He has featured in and presented gardening Television and Radio programs. Trevor is a Freeman of the City of London & a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners. He was the first Area Organiser of the National Gardens Scheme in Northern Ireland. He is also a Past Director of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS). He was Chairman of the UAHS Membership & Marketing Committee. He is a Director of the Northern Ireland Amenity Council who run the annual Best Kept Awards.
Tracy Hamilton - Tracy and her husband Martin own the historic Ringdufferin House and Garden, near Killyleagh in Co. Down. Tracy is a director of the award winning Mash Direct Ltd. Tracy is a member of the Irish Tree Society.
Dr John A. McCullen - Dr. John A. McCullen: Was former chief park superintendent with the OPW and retired in 2012. He is a qualified Landscape Horticulturist and has worked on the restoration of many of the OPW's historic parks and gardens in Ireland. He is author of a number of books including the Landscape History and Management of the Phoenix Park to 1880 2009(second volume is in preparation) and co-authored a Manual of Urban Trees (1983). He specialises in the history of the Phoenix Park and related properties. He is a founding member of the Tree Council of Ireland.
Dr Mark Johnston MBE - Mark is an independent scholar with over forty years experience in the greenspace industry, including working as a tree officer in local government, consultant in private practice, government adviser and university academic. He holds a PhD in urban forestry from the University of Ulster and his research now focuses on historic urban landscapes. Although originally from London, Mark is based in Belfast where he has lived since the early 1990s. In 2007, he was appointed MBE in recognition of his services to trees and the urban environment. In 2009, Mark became the first British person to receive the Award of Merit from the International Society of Arboriculture. He is author of Trees in Towns and Cities: A History of British Urban Arboriculture, published in 2015, and Street Trees in Britain: A History, published in 2017.
Susan Scott - Member of Irish Tree Soc & Int Dendrologists Soc. Owner of Florestina - Irish artisan florist creating natural garden style flowers for weddings & events - details to follow asap
Doreen Wilson - details to follow asap
Claire Woods - Gardens Manager at HRP Hillsborough Castle Gardens -more details to follow asap
Michael Lear - Landscape Architect/ Board Trustee KEW
Michael is a Landscape Architect, Dendrologist and Curator, from 1997 to 2005 ran the National Arboretum for the Forest Service and established the Peace Maze also at Castlewellan. Recently has been consultant to Newry Mourne and Down District Council on restorations at Warrenpoint Municipal Park and Castlewellan Demesne. Michael first worked in Northern Ireland as Botanical Consultant to the National Trust and is former Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and now sits on their World Heritage Site Steering Group. Member of ICOMOS UK Cultural Landscapes and Historic Gardens Committee.
Margie Phillips - Margie, works for Teagasc and has been involved with the education of students at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin for the past 23years. Margie also sits on the committee of the Irish Tree Society, and board member at the RHSI.
Company Directors & Charity Trustees:
- Trevor Edwards
- Mark Johnston
- Tracy Hamilton
- Terence Reeves-Smyth
- Jackie Harte (2020)
- Michael Burrows (2020)
Past Committee Members
Dr Charles Nelson - tbc
David Gilliland - David was a Founder Member -tbc
Mike Snowden - Former Head Gardener at Nat Trust Rowallane
Neil Porteous - tbc
Thomas McErlean - tbc
Finola Reid - Finola is a highly respected garden historian with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Irish garden history, a TV garden show presenter, director of The Historical Gardens of Ireland and a member of the board of The Irish Heritage Council
Jonathan Jackson - BSc Arboriculture and Urban Forestry: Owner of Papervale Trees. Papervale Trees is a specialist tree nursery based in Co.Down producing a wide range of Home Grown standard and unusual containerised trees in peat-free compost.