Born in Dublin, Ian Elliott has worked for most of his adult life in Northern Ireland before being head-hunted by the Catholic Church to be chief executive of its new child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSC).
The NBSC was set up by the Catholic Church to monitor its child protection practices.
It is funded by sponsoring bodies the Conference of Irish Bishops, the Conference of Religious of Ireland and the Conference of Religious in Ireland but operates independently.
Mr Elliott has been chief executive since July 2007.
He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the University of Ulster, with a masters in business administration from the Open University business school.
Appointed director of National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Northern Ireland in June 2001, he was seconded to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Services there in September 2005.
He was its lead child protection adviser. His role there was further expanded when he was asked to design and implement a major reform programme for child protection services within the region.