Sir Kenneth Percy Bloomfield, KCB (15 April 1931 – 30 May 2025) was a Northern Irish civil servant who was

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the

Northern Ireland Civil Service The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS; ; Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Cïvil Sarvice'') is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland. The NICS is one ...

(NICS) and was later a member of the

Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was established by treaty between the Her Majesty's Government, United Kingdom Government and the Government of Ireland, made on 27 April 1999 in connection with the affairs ...

. For a time, he was also Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner.

Early and personal life

Ken Bloomfield was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland, to English parents in 1931. He grew up close to Neill's Hill railway station, East Belfast. Between 1943 and 1949, he attended the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...

('Inst') and later went on to read Modern History at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Located on New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, it occupies the site of two of the university's academic halls of the Univers ...

. He was married with two children. On 12 September 1988, Bloomfield, his wife and son were the targets of an IRA attack on their home in

Crawfordsburn Crawfordsburn () is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village, which is now effectively a commuter town, lies between Holywood and Bangor to the north of the A2 road, about 4 km west of Bangor city centre. Bounded to ...

, County Down; neither Bloomfield or his wife and son were physically injured in the blast.

Public sector career

Having joined the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in 1952, Bloomfield was appointed Permanent Secretary to the

power sharing Power sharing is a practice in conflict resolution where multiple groups distribute political, military, or economic power among themselves according to agreed rules. It can refer to any formal framework or informal pact that regulates the distri ...

executive in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. After the collapse of the executive, he went on to become Permanent Secretary for the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(D.o.E.) and the Department of Economic Development, and finally Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service on 1 December 1984. In that capacity, he was the most senior advisor to successive Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and other Ministers on a wide range of issues. He retired from the post in April 1991. After retiring from the NICS, Bloomfield embarked on a life of involvement in a diverse range of organisations. He took up roles such as Chairman for the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission and his alma mater, the

. He was also involved in the political reform of the

States of Jersey The States Assembly (; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable (Jersey and Guernsey), Connétable of each of the Parishes of Jersey, twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of ...

and spearheaded the Association for Quality Education, which fought to retain academic selection in the Northern Ireland education system. In December 1997 he was asked by the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

Mo Mowlam Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar (UK Parliament constituency), Redcar f ...

, to become the Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner for a fixed term. His role was to produce a report on the way forward for Victims issues in Northern Ireland. His report entitled ''We Will Remember Them'' was published in April 1998. From 1991 to 1999, he served as the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's National Governor for Northern Ireland.

Death

Bloomfield died on 30 May 2025, at the age of 94.

Honours

Bloomfield received a

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours and has received honorary doctorates from

The Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is St ...

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. He was also a Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

(RIA).

Works

* ''A New Life'' (2008) * ''A Tragedy of Errors'' (2007) * ''We will remember them'' (1998) * ''Stormont in Crisis, a memoir'' (1994) * "The BBC at the Watershed" (2008)

References

External links

Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield, Kenneth 1931 births 2025 deaths Civil servants from Northern Ireland Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford BBC people Honorary Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Members of the Royal Irish Academy People of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Heads of the Northern Ireland Civil Service