The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, attended the gun salute at Hillsborough Castle to mark the 68th Anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen's accession to the throne. This was one of the many special gun salutes that took place throughout the United Kingdom.

The 206 (Ulster) Battery of the Royal Artillery, also known as the Ulster Gunners, fired the gun salute.  

The Lord-Lieutenants of Northern Ireland now take it in turns to attend the gun salutes. For more information, please click here.

The new Lord-Lieutenant's Cadets have just been announced. The two new cadets for County Antrim are:

* Cadet Colour Sergeant Emma Ellison
* Cadet Sergeant Robert Allen

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, would like to congratulate the new cadets who were selected to represent the Army Cadets NI Battalion as Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant's Cadets for County Antrim.

The cadets will attend a ceremony at HM The Queen's official residence, Hillsborough Castle, in March where they will be presented with their certificate and badge of office by the Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell.

To be a Lord-Lieutenant Cadet, you must be of the highest calibre and be nominated firstly by your Detachment Commander and Company Commander, the process moves on then when a meeting is convened by RFCA and attended by HM's Lord-Lieutenants and they select the cadet after reading their citation.

Each County has a Lord-Lieutenant as well as the two County Borough's Belfast and Londonderry. The cadets will accompany their respective Lord-Lieutenants on official duties such as Remembrance Sunday and when members of the Royal Family come to Northern Ireland.

Lord-Lieutenant Cadets are selected from members of the Cadet Forces (Sea Cadet Corps, Combined Cadet Force, Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps) so to be selected it is a great honour for the cadets their parents and adult staff.

For further information, please see the Army Cadets website, please click here to view.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, as Patron of the Butler Trust, this afternoon visited HM Prison Maghaberry, in Lisburn, County Antrim, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell. This was the first royal visit to County Antrim of the new decade.

In her role as Patron of the Butler Trust, HRH toured Davis House, a new £54 million state of the art facility incorporating 372 cells, where she spoke to staff, listening to their experiences and how they support people to change. 

​For further information, please view the Belfast Telegraph article on the visit by clicking here.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, is delighted to announce that ​Mrs Jacqueline E. Stewart, MBE, has been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the County. This is the first new DL appointment since Mr McCorkell took over as Lord-Lieutenant from Mrs Joan Christie, CVO, OBE. Please click here to see her appointment notice in the London Gazette.

Jackie lives in Islandmagee and has recently retired as Headmistress of Downshire School in Carrickfergus. Following her distinguished career in the field of Education, she was awarded an MBE for services to Education in 2019. She is Chairperson of Carrick Connect, an organisation which helps support and encourage disaffected youth towards achieving better social skills and qualifications.    

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim commented "I am delighted to appoint Jackie as a Deputy Lieutenant of County Antrim, she is highly respected throughout the County and continues to give an enormous amount back to the community. I welcome her to the Lieutenancy."

Congratulations to Mr Rupert Cramsie on his appointment as High Sheriff of County Antrim for 2020, which was announced in the London Gazette today, he takes over from Mr Ronnie Hassard. To see the announcement, please click here. 

Mr Rupert Cramsie lives at O'Harabrook, Ballymoney, County Antrim. His father was High Sheriff of County Antrim in 1989 and his Grandfather in 1950.

Please click here to find out more about the role of High Sheriff and how it differs from the Lieutenancy. 

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, is delighted to announce that 21 people from County Antrim have received National honours in the New Year's Honours List, which was released at 10:30pm by the London Gazette. For the full list, please click here:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62866/supplement/N1

The Lord-Lieutenant said "many, many congratulations to all those worthy recipients who have received National Honours. I am particularly pleased that 21 people from County Antrim have been recognised in the New Year's list. I am delighted for each and every one of you and I thank you for all that you have done. My very best wishes for the New Year."

If you think you know someone worthy of an honour, please do put them forward. Do not assume that someone else will do it. For further guidance, please see click here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, and the Antrim Lieutenancy, wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In particular, our thoughts and thanks go out to everyone in the Emergency Services, and to all those who are volunteering this Christmas, for keeping us safe and well.

The Antrim Lieutenancy had another busy Remembrance period. The Lieutenancy was represented at events all over County Antrim. 

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, had the great honour of laying wreaths, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, for the first time, in Ballymena in the morning and in Antrim in the afternoon. He was accompanied by his Lord-Lieutenant Cadet, Cadet Sergeant Catherine Hill, Air Training Corps, and the High Sheriff of County Antrim, Mr Ronnie Hassard.

The new Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Mrs Miranda Gordon, DL, had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of the Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim  in Carrickfergus.

Deputy Lieutenants (DLs) attended a further eleven events and also had the honour of laying wreaths on behalf of the Lord-Lieutenant in the following locations:

Ballycastle - Colonel Neil Salisbury, OBE, DL  
Ballyclare - Danny Kinahan, DL    
Ballymoney - Major John Pinkerton, TD, DL    
Bushmills - Dr Peter Fitzgerald, CBE, DL    
Carnmoney & Glengormley - Mrs Julia Shirley, DL    
Larne - Mr Liam Kelly, JP, DL    
Lisburn - Mr Eric Rainey, CVO, MBE, DL    
Portrush - Dr Stephen Bailie, TD, DL    
Whiteabbey - Dr Norman Walker, OBE, TD, JP, DL  
Whitehead - Colonel Stewart Douglas, OBE, DL   

Rathlin Island - Colonel Neil Salisbury, OBE, DL (Sunday 17th November 2019)

​The Lieutenancy extends their warmest thanks to all of the local branches of the Royal British Legion that were involved.