Irish-language activist from Belfast appointed to advise Irish president

Irish language activist Linda Ervine and academic Colin Harvey are among the seven people Irish president Catherine Connolly has appointed to the Council of State.

Under the Irish constitution, the council provides advice to the president.

Ervine was born into a working-class Protestant family in east Belfast and is the manager of the first Irish language centre to be based in a loyalist area.

Harvey is a Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law in Queen's University Belfast.

Ervine is the founder of Scoil na Seolta, the first Integrated school to teach through the medium of Irish.

In 2021 she received an MBE for her work promoting the Irish language and two years later, was given an honorary doctorate by Queen's University Belfast (QUB).

Last year, Ervine was made a member of the Royal Irish Academy as well as an honorary degree from Trinity College in June 2025.

Her latest award was an honorary degree from the Open University in October 2025.

Harvey is a Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law in QUB as well as a Commissioner on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and a member of the Scientific Committee of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.

He previously served two terms as a commissioner on the NI Human Rights Commission and was a member of the NI Higher Education Council.

The other five people appointed to the Council of State by the president are: Fionnuala Ní Aoláin; Kathleen Lynch; Donncha O'Connell; Conor O'Mahony and Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh.

Professor Fionniuala Ní Aoláin is an international law and human rights expert and is currently Professor of Law at QUB.

She has held visiting positions at a number of universities, including Harvard Law School, Yale University, Princeton University and the Geneva Academy in Switzerland.

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

She also served as a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

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

Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh is a former president of the University of Galway, the Irish county from which President Connolly is from.

Donncha O'Connell is an Established Professor of Law at University of Galway and served two terms as a Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission.

He was also a member of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and a board member of the Legal Aid Board.

The Council of State provides advice, when requested, to the President.

This can include on matters like whether a draft bill should be sent to the Supreme Court to examine its constitutionality.

It has three categories of members - seven people which are appointed by the president, former presidents, former taoisigh (Irish prime ministers) and former Chief Justices as well as people who occupy a range of offices right now.

These are: the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, President of the High Court, Ceann Comhairle (Chair of the lower house of the Irish parliament), Cathaoirleach of the Seanad (Chair of the upper house of parliament) and the Attorney General.

The situations when the President must consult the Council of State are specified in the Constitution.