Jacqueline Irwin is the Chief Executive Officer of the NI Community Relations Council (CRC), a non-departmental public body sponsored by The Executive Office and the regional funding and development organisation supporting peace-building and community relations.

Before joining CRC Jacqueline lead the National Asylum Support Services in Northern Ireland. She also lead the project to establish operational asylum support services across ten other locations in England, Scotland, and Wales in collaboration with the UK government, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh and NI Assemblies, Local Authorities and voluntary groups.   

Prior to this Jacqueline had 20 years experience in the voluntary sector working in the fields of criminal justice, social welfare, law and voluntary and community development. She is a former Chair of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) and in that capacity negotiated the first formal Compact between government and the voluntary sector. 

Jacqueline holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Ulster and is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University Belfast. She is a member of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund.  She is also a member of the Peer Review College of the Economic and Social Research Council.  Jacqueline is a former member of the BBC NI Appeals Advisory Committee and has served on the NI committee of BBC Children In Need.