Long announces appointments to Civil Legal Services Appeal Panel

Date published: 09 February 2022

Justice Minister Naomi Long has made three appointments to the Civil Legal Services Appeal Panel.

Justice Minister Naomi Long pictured

Civil Legal Services Appeal Panels adjudicate on appeals against decisions taken by the Legal Services Agency on the granting of Civil Legal Services for civil proceedings.

Each panel consists of three members, one Presiding Member and two Ordinary Members.

Seamus McIlroy is appointed as Presiding Member; along with Maeve Holland and Maria Mullally who are appointed as Ordinary Members. The appointments are effective from 24 January 2022.

Appointments are for an initial period of five years. Remuneration for the position of Presiding Member is £350 and for Ordinary Members £250 for the preparation required and attendance at each sitting of the Appeal Panel. 

Notes to editors: 

1.     Appointments are for an initial period of five years. Remuneration for the position of Presiding Member is £350 and for Ordinary Members £250 for the preparation required and attendance at each sitting of the Appeal Panel.  A typical sitting will last for a half day or up to four hours.  The fee includes an element for preparation and reading time and is paid monthly in arrears.  These fees are inclusive and no other expenses will be paid.  All remuneration is subject to deduction of income tax and national insurance contributions.

2.     Pen pictures;

Séamus McIlroy (Presiding Member) qualified as a solicitor in 2006. He worked in private practice before moving on to numerous public sector roles. These included drafting legislation and giving advice to senior civil servants and ministers. He was the Police Ombudsman’s Director of Legal Services between 2013 and2018. In 2018 he became a barrister where he now specialises in criminal law, litigation, judicial review and inquests. He is part time Chairman of a number of tribunals and has been a contributor to Valentine’s All Law of NI since 2013. He is Vice-Chair of Holy Family Primary and Nursery Schools’ Board of Governors in North Belfast and also sits on the committee of St Malachy’s OB Youth FC.

Maeve Holland (Ordinary Member) qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 2001 and is a Solicitor Advocate.  She has a wide range of experience in private client general practice and in public law matters.  Maeve specialises in Defence Medical Negligence litigation on behalf of the Health & Social Care sector in NI. Maeve represents clients in Inquests, and has a wealth of experience in a wide range of health care sector legal matters. She also has experience in Judicial Review, private & public family law matters, and mental health law.

Maria Mullally (Ordinary Member) became a barrister in 1993.  She specialises in family law with expertise in matrimonial cases, Children Order cases and cases of domestic violence.  She has also conducted Judicial Reviews and human rights cases.

3.     None of the three appointees have been involved in any political activity in the last 5 years

4.     For media enquiries contact the Department of Justice Press Office at press.office@justice-ni.gov.uk

5.     The Executive Information Service operates an out-of-hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

Share this page

Back to top