John Carleton is a former international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. He toured twice with the British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

, to South Africa in 1980

1980 British Lions tour to South Africa

In 1980 the British Lions rugby union team toured South Africa . The tour was not a success in terms of international results, the Lions losing the first three tests before salvaging some pride with a win in the fourth...

 and New Zealand in 1983

1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand

In 1983 the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the first time since 1977. The Lions went down to a 4-0 whitewash for only the second time in history - the previous was also inflicted by the All Blacks on the 1966 Lions. Overall the Lions played eighteen matches, winning twelve and...

 and played club rugby for Orrell R.U.F.C.

Orrell R.U.F.C.

Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union team from the Orrell area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.The club were founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997.-1927–1939:...

.

From 1993 until 1999 he worked for Bank of Ireland Healthcare Division financing the construction and acquisition of care homes.

In November 2009 he was appointed Chief Executive of Local Partnerships

Local Partnerships

Local Partnerships is one of the six bodies that form the Local Government Group overseen by the Local Government Association though, unlike the others, it is jointly owned with HM Treasury...

a position which he left very suddenly, without notice in August 2010.