Member's statement: Dr Tom Frawley

Member's statement by Mr Mike Nesbitt on 29 June 2026.

MLA: Mr Mike Nesbitt
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 29 June 2026
Type: Member's statement (made as a minister)
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Dr Tom Frawley
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5644560

Text

Members will be aware of the sad, sudden and untimely passing of Dr Tom Frawley CBE, the chair of the Western Health and Social Care Trust. Tom had a long and extremely distinguished career as a public servant that began in the health service. I am told that he became the youngest person ever to be appointed as chief executive of any public body throughout the United Kingdom when he became CEO of the Western Health and Social Services Board. After that, he was both the Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints. Following that, he was vice chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, before returning to his first love: the health service.
Tom was ombudsman when I was Chair of what was then the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, which is now the Committee for the Executive Office. He promoted the idea of amalgamating the positions of ombudsman and commissioner, because, depending on which hat he wore, he had significantly different powers, and, unsurprisingly, that was confusing for the public. For Tom, serving the public always came first. That Committee remains the only Committee, I believe, to successfully pass legislation in the Assembly, and I am forever grateful to Tom for understanding how to advise without interfering. His CV is impressive, but more impressive was Tom the person.
Think public service, wisdom, generosity and courtesy. Think integrity, insight and curiosity, the lack of which is a key criticism of the two public inquiry reports of recent days. I have had the privilege to meet a number of wonderful, passionate and compassionate public service leaders, such as Maurice Hayes, Sir George Quigley and Professor Sir Desmond Rea, who passed recently. Tom Frawley is a member of that elite. I share this thought: anybody considering a leadership role in public service would do well to study not just his career but the values that Tom Frawley cherished and, more important, how he put them to work for the public good. Be curious. Ask questions not just about what is in place but about how it is working, and ask for proof. Celebrate the success of others more than basking in your own achievements. Adopt a simple policy: be human. At requiem Mass on Saturday, some of his friends and colleagues reminisced about how he would hold you to account — no excuses — but, when it was over, he was still your friend, courteous and with a wicked sense of humour. My condolences to his wife Marie, children Rachel, Joe and Dan and the broader family. They will miss him the most. I shall miss him selfishly because I do not know where I will find another mentor to match him.

462 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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