Martin Blackburn was appointed as Emergency Planning Officer in June 2001.

He was born on the Isle of Man and grew up in Onchan. He started his career as an accounts clerk with a Douglas firm of accountants before entering the Civil Service in a junior post in the Income Tax Division at the age of 19. He progressed to become a trainee accountant with the Finance Division of Treasury and moved to Douglas Corporation as Assistant Borough Treasurer in 1991, later being appointed General Manager at the Villa Marina until shortly before its closure for refurbishment in 2001.

Martin has been a Civil Defence volunteer since the age of 18 and now manages the Corps as Emergency Planning Officer. In his spare time he is County Director (Training and Marketing) for St John Ambulance and Deputy Clerk of the Course for the Manx Grand Prix races as well as Treasurer and Trustee for a number of local charities.

Ian Young hails from the south of the Island but now lives in Peel. He served 30 years in the police force before being seconded to assist in the Emergency Planning Office in January 2006.

As a Police Constable he carried out duties in Douglas, Castletown and Ballasalla prior to joining the Traffic Department in 1986. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1993 and worked in the prosecutions department, then as a section sergeant, station sergeant, licensing sergeant, traffic and dog sergeant. He also had a spell from 2001-2005 responsible for emergency planning within the police force, and as Operational Support Sergeant managed police involvement in royal visits and large events.

Outside work, Ian was a crewmember of Peel lifeboat for more than 10 years, and enjoys diving and boating around the Island’s coasts. Ian retired from the Isle of Man Constabulary on completing 30 years’ service in December 2006, but continues as Assistant Emergency Planning Officer on the staff of the Department of Home Affairs.