The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Right Honourable Sir Chris Bryant MP, has today announced the appointment of Dr Cathy Gormley-Heenan OBE as a Civil Service Commissioner for Northern Ireland with effect from 1 November 2026.
\n\nCivil Service Commissioners are appointed under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 by the King, on recommendation from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Their function is to regulate appointments to the Northern Ireland Civil Service and under the terms of the Civil Service Commissioners (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, the Commissioners also have the power to consider, and determine, appeals to them by civil servants under the Northern Ireland Civil Service Code of Ethics.
\n\nFurther information on the work of the Commissioners is available at:
\n\nhttps://www.nicscommissioners.org/
\n\nProfessor Cathy Gormley-Heenan OBE is the University Provost at Ulster University, a Trustee of the British-Irish Association, and a Board member of the NI Chamber of Commerce, and Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation (MLKDC), and a former Commissioner for the Independent Fiscal Commission for Northern Ireland, alongside various other board level roles and responsibilities.
\n\nAll appointments are made on merit and with regards to the statutory requirements. Political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity in defined categories to be made public.
\n\nDr Cathy Gormley-Heenan OBE declared that she has not been politically active in the last five years.
\n\nAppointments to the Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland are not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
\n\nAppointments to the Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland are made under the provisions of section 36 (1) of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
\nThe Secretary of State is responsible for the overall work of the Department, including on:
\n\nHe also has overall responsibility for the NIO’s parliamentary activity in the House of Commons.
\n","role_payment_type":null,"seniority":23,"whip_organisation":{}},"document_type":"ministerial_role","links":{},"locale":"en","public_updated_at":"2026-09-16T08:41:14Z","schema_name":"role","title":"Secretary of State for Northern Ireland","web_url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-northern-ireland","withdrawn":false}],"taxons":[{"api_path":"/api/content/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland-political-stability","api_url":"https://www.gov.uk/api/content/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland-political-stability","base_path":"/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland-political-stability","content_id":"42c7ab56-125d-4328-b1c9-88564d94fef1","details":{"internal_name":"Northern Ireland political stability [P]","notes_for_editors":"","visible_to_departmental_editors":false},"document_type":"taxon","links":{"parent_taxons":[{"api_path":"/api/content/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland","api_url":"https://www.gov.uk/api/content/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland","base_path":"/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland","content_id":"a1e624ed-e268-44ab-ac3f-4d3cb2bb8cb5","details":{"internal_name":"Northern Ireland [PA]","notes_for_editors":"","visible_to_departmental_editors":false},"document_type":"taxon","links":{"parent_taxons":[{"api_path":"/api/content/regional-and-local-government","api_url":"https://www.gov.uk/api/content/regional-and-local-government","base_path":"/regional-and-local-government","content_id":"503c5bc7-809a-47b9-83e2-bd0c212dbabb","description":"","details":{"internal_name":"Regional and local government","notes_for_editors":"","visible_to_departmental_editors":true},"document_type":"taxon","links":{"root_taxon":[{"api_path":"/api/content/","api_url":"https://www.gov.uk/api/content/","base_path":"/","content_id":"f3bbdec2-0e62-4520-a7fd-6ffd5d36e03a","document_type":"homepage","links":{},"locale":"en","public_updated_at":"2026-02-18T13:00:23Z","schema_name":"homepage","title":"GOV.UK homepage","web_url":"https://www.gov.uk/","withdrawn":false}]},"locale":"en","phase":"live","public_updated_at":"2018-09-16T20:30:05Z","schema_name":"taxon","title":"Regional and local government","web_url":"https://www.gov.uk/regional-and-local-government","withdrawn":false}]},"locale":"en","phase":"live","public_updated_at":"2018-08-22T13:09:40Z","schema_name":"taxon","title":"Northern Ireland","web_url":"https://www.gov.uk/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland","withdrawn":false}]},"locale":"en","phase":"live","public_updated_at":"2018-08-22T13:09:40Z","schema_name":"taxon","title":"Northern Ireland political stability","web_url":"https://www.gov.uk/regional-and-local-government/northern-ireland-political-stability","withdrawn":false}]},"locale":"en","phase":"live","public_updated_at":"2026-10-29T17:12:09+00:00","publishing_app":"whitehall","publishing_request_id":"21-1793293929.714-10.13.22.57-2935","publishing_scheduled_at":null,"rendering_app":"frontend","scheduled_publishing_delay_seconds":null,"schema_name":"news_article","title":"Secretary of State announces appointment of a new Civil Service Commissioner for Northern Ireland","updated_at":"2026-10-29T17:12:10+00:00","withdrawn_notice":{}}