Philip O'Doherty totally discredits the age old myth that men can't multi-task.

When the 49-year-old business man is not not running his international electronic engineering company he is heavily involved in Derry's proposal for a new university and succeeding in the campaign to have the 'Telehouse' located in Derry. If juggling three projects at the same time wasn't convincing enough then Philip has added the title of Derry City Football Club chairman to his already impressive curriculum vitae.

Philip was born in Derry in 1960. He was reared in Oakfield Crescent and is the oldest of four children. His late father, Philip, was a docker and was also one of the founding members of Derry Credit Union. Philip's mother Mary, still lives in family home in Oakfield Crescent.
As a youngster, Philip attended St. Eugene's Primary School, the Christian Brothers school near the Lecky Road before moving onto St. Columb's College where he emerged with A levels in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Further Mathematics.

"My first memory of growing up in Derry was when my father took me down to see all the work that was going on at the docks," says Philip. "I remember I was totally fascinated with all the machines unloading coal and potatoes from the ships. I was only about four or five at the time but for some reason it stuck with me."

Philip described a happy and contented childhood. It was one where education and ambition triumphed over everything. At the age of nine his father was teaching him algebra and instilling in him a work ethic that would last with him forever.

"My father was a big influence on me. He was telling me how important it was for me to get an education and make a life a for myself. He also taught me the value of giving something back to the community. I remember when I was younger he would have been out working on the docks all day, he would come home and then out he would go out again to a meeting to do with the Credit Union or something else."

He added: "I remember him sitting me down when I was nine and teaching me algebra. I hadn't a clue what it was all about but after a few lessons I was able to grasp it. My father was brilliant at mental arithmetic and from an early age he was always encouraging me to work hard at Mathematics.

"Looking back at it now I have to say that I am really impressed because here was a docker who was educated at the Christian Brothers Tech teaching his eldest child algebra. My father was a remarkable man."
On completing his primary school education Philip, like many young boys at that time, attended St. Columb's College in both Bishop Street and the Buncrana Road.

"I still have a close relationship with St. Columb's," says Philip. "I got a first class education there and I think that it's just brilliant what St. Columb's has achieved. Because of what I learned at St. Columb's I felt that I was more than able to do an Engineering degree at Queen's. When I was at the school it would have been amongst the best in Northern Ireland and I dare say it still is."

In 1979, after leaving St. Columb's, Philip opted to go to Queen's University in Belfast to study for a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

When Philip graduated from Queen's in 1982 he wasted no time and went straight to work for Du Pont in Maydown near Campsie as a Control Engineer.

"I worked in Du Pont from 1982 to 1987. The training I received there was excellent, it was a great place to work. Whilst there I learned all about engineering standards and technical skills. In terms of putting me onto the path that I am on now my time with Du Pont was invaluable."
At the age of 26-years-old and with five years experience with Du Pont behind him Philip decided to set-up his own business; E&I Engineering. The business is a current market leader in the provision of Electrical Switchgear and Power Distribution Solutions throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe.

When Philip started the business he did so with a loan of £2,000 from the Derry Credit Union and with a staff of three people. In just over 20 years E&I Engineering has grown rapidly. Philip now employs close to 400 people; in both Burnfoot in Donegal and at his new manufacturing plant in Dubai.

E&I Engineering's clients include JP Morgan, Canary Wharf, HSBC, the new Aviva Stadium in Dublin and Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport.
At his Burnfoot headquarters 80 per cent of Philip's workforce are from either Derry . His younger brother Desmond manages the sheet metal part of the company and his daughter Shauna manages Sub-contract Accounts.
"I always fancied the idea of being my own boss," says Philip. "When I was with Du Pont I noticed that they had problems getting a specific product. I knew that I could make the product and sell it to them so I started up my own company and the rest, as they say, is history. I had no idea that the business would grow as big as it has."

In recent times Philip has become a familiar face to supporters of Derry City Football Club. In 1994 he was the club's vice-chairman but after the former board of directors resigned in November last year Philip took up the reigns as chairman.

"I was vice-chairman for about two years back in the 90s but I decided to step down because I wanted to concentrate on my business.
"I found out about the financial situation at Derry City some time last year. The club was £650,000 in debt. It was virtually impossible to save Derry City under the management of Wellvan Enterprises Ltd. Myself, Martin McDaid, Paul Diamond and Jack McCauley met with Fran Gavin and John Delaney from the FAI. They told us that Wellvan had to go into administration first before we even started to consider forming a new company."

Further compounding the club's terminal financial situation was the claim from the FAI that Derry City held dual contracts with its players. As a consequence the FAI expelled Derry City from the League of Ireland (LOI). The then board of directors fervently denied the allegation but when players travelled to meet with the FAI the board resigned en masse.

Former Derry City chairman, Pat McDaid, agreed to put the company into administration and a new holding company; Derry City Football Club Ltd was formed.

"Our first objective was to secure the manager. We didn't want anyone else. Stephen Kenny was our man. I met with Stephen here at my office one Saturday morning and we had a cup of tea and a chat. I was very impressed with Stephen and with what he had to say. I am delighted to be chairman of the club I supported as a boy and I firmly believe that we will be challenging for promotion next season."

Philip and the new board have submitted a licence application to the FAI to compete in next season's LOI First Division. They will find out if it has been successful on February 15.

Football and engineering aside, Philip has fronted a campaign to have the 'Telehouse' (a multi-million pound underwater telecoms cable linking Northern Ireland to the United States) located in Derry. The cable will emerge near Portrush but will run further inland so that it can connect with the rest of the North of Ireland's communications infrastructure by means of a 'Telehouse'.

"Arlene Foster decided that it would better for the Telehouse to go to Coleraine even though a report stated that the best place for it would be Derry. We needed to do something so we started our campaign to have the decision reversed.

"We lobbied all the political parties and I have to say that if wasn't for the SDLP and Sinn Fein singing off the same hymn sheet then the campaign wouldn't have worked.

"It's great that we got Arlene Foster to reverse her decision and the 'Telehouse' will be built on the Fort George site. But I am of the opinion that that's not enough. Unless we start securing jobs and investment on the back of it then we will not have been successful."
After successfully overturning Arlene Foster's decision to relocate the 'Telehouse' Philip, Brian Doherty and Padraig Canavan agreed their next move would be to secure a new university campus for Derry. The U4D (University for Derry) campaign was born.

"I remember in 1965 both my parents travelled to Stormont to protest over the Lockwood Report. The report said that the best place for a second university in the North was not Derry but Coleraine. I think this was a major mistake and one which contributed to the start of the Troubles. Derry was basically being told that they were not going to get anything from the Northern state."

Philip believes that a new university would help to regenerate the city and has set a 10 year plan in place to transform the Strand Road area of the city into a University Quarter.

"In 2005 the University of Ulster promised that they would increase the number of students from 2,000 to 10,000. It's now 2010 and the number of students has only increased to about 2,800. They had plans for a graduate medical faculty in 2005 and now they have no published plans other than 1,000 extra students. They have totally scaled back on what they said they would do in 2005. So U4D have come along and they are engaging positively with ILEX and the University of Ulster to develop a new plan for the university's expansion in Derry. It's a plan that will be deliverable and will allow local management and autonomy for the university. It's vitally important that we have local control.

"The University of Ulster's proposal is to move the university out to the Northland Road. We don't think that this is the right decision because it's too far away from the city centre. Students want to be in the city centre where the bars, restaurants and nightclubs are. We have looked at a few case studies and any successful universities have been located in the centre of a city. We have looked at the University of Lincoln. Lincoln is similar in size to Derry and in just over 10 years they have secured 10,000 students. If we could achieve a figure close to 10,000 then it would generate approximately £250 million each year for the local economy.

"It is believed that 85 per cent of students who leave Derry to get work don't come back. We are losing some of very best young people but I think that if the U4D campaign is successful then we will put a stop to the brain drain.

"Lincoln's recently retired Chancellor, David Chidwick has been advising U4D for the last six months. David is now acting as a resource to ILEX to formulate a joint University of Ulster and U4D plan that is going to submitted to the Department of Employment of Learning."

He concluded: "It's important that this plan is not just an announcement. It's important that we deliver what we promise. Too often I have seen big plans announced for Derry and then nothing happens. It's one of the biggest failings I have noticed in the public sector in Derry. In the last 20 years Derry has had approximately 70 big public development plans announced of which virtually none have been delivered. It's time to deliver on our promises for the city."