Ireland member showcase: Martina Smith

For the third in a new series highlighting the career and achievements of our Ireland members, we caught up with Martina Smith to find out more about her role in Hail Housing Association for Integrated Living.

Martina qualified in 1992 with a degree in housing from the University of Ulster and has worked in housing ever since, except for a year, when she took off to travel the world. Martina worked in the housing departments of three different London local authorities for fourteen years and moved back to Dublin in 2007. She became CEO of Hail in 2017, and as it is a job she loves, the years have flown by!

We asked Martina a few questions to find out more about her work.

What does a normal day look like for a CEO of an approved housing body (AHB)?

I don’t think there is a normal day as such as every day varies, which is what I find most interesting. I like to spend some time in the mornings going through emails and preparing for any meetings I might have that day. We have a robust governance structure, and I will spend some time planning ahead and preparing reports for board and committee meetings.

As a leadership team we meet regularly, and I will also meet them individually to assist with keeping projects moving e.g., housing development or planned maintenance. Ensuring the actions we have in our business plan are completed, I sign off on reports and any decisions we may need to make. I monitor our risks and what is happening in the sector, while considering any implications for Hail.

What challenges do you face in your role? 

Making sure we have sufficient funding to keep doing what we do so well is the biggest challenge, both in housing and support. Our mental health tenancy sustainment services are funded on an annual basis, and it therefore can be difficult to plan ahead.

There is a high demand for our services and delivering homes for those who need them can be a difficult process at times, with lots of obstacles along the way. On the positive side, we do have very good partners in local authorities, the Health Service Executive, and other AHBs who appreciate our work and the impact of what we do, and are always on hand to assist us.

What aspects of your role do you find the most rewarding?

When I see how our tenants and clients have positively progressed on their own individual journeys because of all the work the team does. Hail is a great organisation, it really does have tenants at the heart of everything, which is very motivational for me. It is great also to see how our staff work to those values and this in turns creates a great culture and environment to work in.  It is very rewarding when I see our staff progress and use the opportunities for development and training provided by Hail.

What advice would you give to anyone considering a career like yours? 

Go for it! AHBs are fantastic organisations, and it is a privilege to lead one. Get as much experience as you can during your career in the different aspects of housing from front line management, finance, and housing development.

I think it’s important to have a problem-solving outlook and to build resilience as there can be tough decisions to be made. I have a great leadership and management team so building that is important, no-one can do any job alone!  It can sometimes be an isolating role so it’s important to build a good network of peers, and organisations like the CIH and the Irish Council of Social Housing can really help with that.