President Connolly appoints Council of State nearly six months into term

Seven new members bring legal, academic and human rights expertise to advise the President over her term

President Catherine Connolly. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

President Catherine Connolly has appointed her Council of State nearly six months after taking office as Uachtarán na hÉireann.

The President of Ireland can call upon the Council of State to “aid and counsel the President”. They are often called upon when the President is asked to sign a Bill into law and seeks advice.

The Council of State has several members who are set in stone including former presidents, Taoisigh, and Chief Justices.

The current Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, President of the High Court, Ceann Comhairle, Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, and the Attorney General are also members.

However, the Constitution permits the president to appoint additional members to the Council of State.

President Connolly has now confirmed that these people are Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Linda Ervine, Colin Harvey, Kathleen Lynch, Donncha O’Connell, Conor O’Mahony, and Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh.

Fionnuala Ní Aoláin is a “globally recognised international law and human rights expert” and is currently Professor of Law at Queen's University Belfast, and concurrently Regents Professor and Robina Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Society at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Her academic work has been in the fields of emergency powers, counter-terrorism and human rights, conflict regulation, transitional justice, and sex-based violence in times of war.

Linda Ervine was “born into a working-class Protestant family in east Belfast” and is the manager of the first Irish language centre based in a loyalist area. She started learning Irish in 2011.

Turas is now one of the largest providers of Irish language classes in Belfast, and she is the founder of Scoil na Seolta, the first integrated school to teach through the medium of Irish.

In 2021, she was honoured to receive the MBE for her work promoting the Irish language.

Colin Harvey is 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.

He served two terms as a Commissioner on the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Kathleen Lynch is a Professor of Equality Studies (Emerita) at University College Dublin (UCD), where she has also held a Senior Lectureship in Education. 

She served as a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) from 2020 to 2025. She is currently an elected Executive Member of the Global Forum for Rehumanizing Education.

Donncha O’Connell is an Established Professor of Law at University of Galway. He served two terms as a Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission and was also a member of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and a board member of the Legal Aid Board. 

He was also a member of the Independent Review Group to consider the Offences Against the State Acts.

He has served on the boards of several human rights organisations, including INTERIGHTS, FLAC, and Amnesty International – Ireland, and was the first full-time Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).

Conor O'Mahony is Professor of Law and Dean of the School of Law at University College Cork. His teaching and research focus on constitutional law and children's rights. 

He is the director of the Child Law Clinic, which has supported successful litigation in the Irish Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

He also served as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection to the Government of Ireland from 2019 to 2022.

Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh is a former President of Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. He was also Chairperson of Universities Ireland and has a PhD from the University of Leeds, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Northeastern University in Boston.

In a statement, President Connolly thanked the seven new members of the Council of State for agreeing to serve.

“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,” she said.

“I look forward to receiving their advice and support over the next seven years.”