Virginia McVea
Biography
Virginia McVea is a lawyer who qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 1993, specialising in European Law, Human Rights and Litigation in private practice. An expert in the duty of the state to protect life, she is an advanced advocate in the jurisdiction, a former committee member for the Law Society of Northern Ireland and trainer for the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.
Virginia has developed and delivered decision making training schemes to senior emergency service teams in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Health and Social Care Trusts. She has worked in the public, private and voluntary sectors in the United Kingdom and is a trustee for the UK Stroke Association.
As legal advisor to the Regulation and Quality Assurance body overseeing health and social care for Northern Ireland, she developed new methodologies for inspection in the sector and worked on joint investigations with the Criminal Justice Inspectorate. As Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission she led key litigation in the House of Lords.
She worked extensively at the United Nations (UN) across a range of matters including business, human rights and climate change. In this role she presented reports on the State to the UN in Geneva, initiated new projects including an executive support programme for national organisations in the UN and a new human rights-based approach to inspection and investigation which was adopted by the International Ombudsman Association.
Responsible for the Commonwealth Forum of Human Rights Commissions operations as lead Chief Executive Officer from 2015, Virginia spearheaded new projects designed to ensure the empowerment of smaller states and the coming together of the group within the UN on issues of key concern.
As the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland since 2017, with responsibility for the office and over 5,000 casual staff, Virginia has been responsible for the largest electoral jurisdiction in the UK with a register of almost 1.4 million, the largest register achieved in Northern Ireland. She set up the first online registration process for the jurisdiction and led on automating canvass processes, bringing 80% of applicants online.
A keen sailor, Virginia crews dinghies and a classic flying fifteen from her local club.
Virginia became the Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in April 2023.
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for the overall performance of the MCA, including achieving the goals set out in its business plan. They are also the Accounting Officer for the MCA.