Before entering full time politics in 1993 Eileen was engaged in a number of occupations from civil servant to General Secretary 0f the Alliance Party. She also worked as Development and Welfare Officer in the Peace People where she helped families who were under threat from paramilitary factions during the troubles.

Eileen also brought prisoners families up to the 3 prisons and helped visit their relatives when needed.

She later became C0-0rdinator of the Peace Train which ran 5 Peace Trains mostly between Dublin-Belfast but also to Glasgow and London.

The final train ran one week after the Shankill Bombing and was run at the request of the people of the Shankill Road. During those years Eileen was a member of the Suffolk Residents Association along with her husband and other members of the Suffolk Estate, a small Loyalist estate in West Belfast.

This was a very challenging time which ended with Eileen and her husband being forced out of Belfast and, on advice, moving to Bangor.

Political life

Elected to North Down as Councillor for Bangor West May 1993.

Eileen was Chair of the Community Relations and Tourism and Community Development Committees.

She represented the Council on the Local Government Association, the Probation Board, Warwick University Consortium among others Board of Visitors in Crumlin Road Jail just before its closure and was also Company Secretary on the Board of the Somme Association.

She was a delegate in the Political/Peace Talks from 1990 and was also involved in the Dublin Forum for Peace and Reconciliation and the GFA negotiations.

She held Party Portfolios in Human Rights, Community Relations. Victims and Socials issues including Children and Family.

Eileen was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998 as Member for North Down and was elected to the Assembly Commission and the Education Committee and the Committee of the First and Deputy Minister’s Committee until 2005.

Later, in that year, she announced that she was standing down from her position as MLA for personal reasons. Eileen also stood down as Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party.

Eileen was subsequently approached by the then Secretary of State Peter Hain and asked to take the post of Speaker/ Presiding Officer of a Transitional N.I. Assembly while negotiations towards Full Devolution could take place in St Andrews.

She was shocked but having been assured that she was the agreed choice by the other parties, she agreed to take up the post. Eileen stood down on the attainment of Devolution after a challenging but positive year and was awarded the CBE in May 2008.

After retirement Eileen became Chairperson of Women into Politics and worked closely with TWN. Eileen is also Vice- President of Autism N.I. and Towns’Womens Guilds.

Eileen has been and still is a member of several other Boards and organisations. 

Katherine is the Head of Strategy and Implementation for HMRC's Communications as a Compliance Intervention program, leading a team that uses innovative, targeted communications pilots to drive tax compliance.

She has a range of award-winning, cross-sectoral expertise in strategic communications, policy development, and stakeholder management. She was selected by the British Council as one of 50 emerging global policy leaders through their Future Leaders Connect programme, recognising her work in public policy innovation.

Rhonda is the CEO of the Men’s Advisory Project (MAP).  She studied Law at Cambridge University.

Rhonda has an extensive corporate business background developing, directing multi national organisations in the UK and Ireland. She has a strong understanding of business development structuring/restructuring and HR practices and is Prince 2 Trained.

Rhonda retrained and qualified as a psychotherapist at the University of Ulster. 

She has wide community and voluntary background experience having lead organisations who work with victims and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse and in areas of multiple deprivation. 

She played a strategic role in the inception of the Gillen Review and was an originator of the development and delivery model of Rape Crisis in Northern Ireland 

Rhonda has represented Ireland, N Ireland and Ulster in sport.

Shannon is a solicitor specialising in all aspects of family and matrimonial law.   

Shannon studied the M Law (Exempting) course at Northumbria University.

During her studies Shannon interned at the Morristown Prosecutors Office in New Jersey and assisted with the rebuild of houses in Tuscalousa, Alabama with Habitat for Humanity.

Shannon carries out complex children cases in all court arenas.   She is pragmatic, straight-talking and empathetic.   She acts for various clients in international family disputes, child arrangements, adoption, surrogacy and relocation matters.  Shannon is also experienced in non-accidental injury matters and parental child abduction (Hague and non-Hague), proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction, wardship applications, as well as injunctions and protection orders.   

Shannon acts for clients in the resolution of financial matters on divorce, as well as the resolution of financial matters between unmarried couples both in and out of court.   Shannon is experienced in advising on cases involving both pre & post nuptial agreements.  

Shannon is a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland

Shannon is an accredited member of the Children Order Panel in Northern Ireland.