A NEW Lord-Lieutenant has been appointed for Ayrshire and Arran.

Sheriff Iona Sara McDonald, MA, LLB, DL, has been chosen to succeed Mr John Duncan, CVO, QPM, who retired on October 15, this year.
Sheriff McDonald is also a Senior Sheriff in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde at Kilmarnock.

She said: “I am truly honoured to have been appointed as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran. Having been born, raised and having worked in Ayrshire I have a deep-seated reverence for the area and it’s people.

“We have much to be proud of and it is my intention to build, not only, on the gifts that the area has given us but to promote the Royal family and the role of the Lieutenancy as much as possible.

“I would also like to record my appreciation to the previous Lord- Lieutenant, John Duncan, for his contribution to the Lieutenancy over the last ten years and wish him a long, happy and healthy retirement.”

Sheriff McDonald was educated at Cumnock Academy and she graduated from Glasgow University with a Master of Arts in 1976 and Law degree in 1978.

She subsequently joined the Ayr firm, Mathie-Morton, Black and Buchanan and became a partner in 1982.

She was appointed as a temporary Sheriff in 1994 and received a full appointment in 2000 to the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde, sitting in Paisley and Kilmarnock Sheriff courts and since 2007 she has been Senior Sheriff at Kilmarnock.

During her career, Sheriff McDonald has held a number of other positions, where she has acted as a court reporter in family cases and as a safe-guarder in children’s hearings.

She has been a facilitator for judicial studies training and a mentor to newly appointed Sheriffs and in 2010 she was appointed a member of the Scottish Courts Service Board where she is chair of the Estates Committee.

Sheriff McDonald is involved in charity fundraising, in particular, the British Heart Foundation.