PRESIDENT Catherine Connolly has appointed Linda Ervine and Colin Harvey to serve as members of the Council of State.
The Council of State is a body established by the Constitution to advise the President.
They join five other members who were also appointed today – Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Kathleen Lynch, Donncha O’Connell, Conor O’Mahony and Ciarán Ó hÓgartaighand – and join the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, the Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann, and the Attorney General who are also members.
Linda Ervine was born into a working-class Protestant family in East Belfast. She is the manager of the first Irish language centre to be based in a loyalist area. When she began learning Irish in 2011 no one would have conceived of the idea of an Irish language centre in the heart of East Belfast but despite the many difficulties Turas is now one of the largest providers of Irish language classes in Belfast. She is the founder of Scoil na Seolta, the first Integrated school to teach through the medium of Irish.
Colin Harvey is a Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, a Commissioner on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and a member of the Scientific Committee of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.
Colin Harvey
Professor Harvey is a former Head of the Law School at Queen's and served two terms as a Commissioner on the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
President Connolly said: “May I thank each of the nominees who have agreed to serve as a member of the Council of State. These seven members bring a unique expertise and range of experience to the Council of State which will be of immense value in considering the matters which may arise over the course of my term of office. I look forward to receiving their advice and support over the next seven years.”
