By Lesley Walsh
A NEW High Sheriff for County Down has been appointed for the year in a tradition that dates back to before the Norman Conquest.Lieutenant Colonel Peter Leckey is the Sovereign’s latest judicial representative in County Down, succeeding Sue Wild from Comber.Mrs Wild handed over the chains of office to Mr Leckey during a recent ceremony at Ballynahinch’s Montalto House, attended by the Lord Lieutenant of County Down, Gawn Rowan Hamilton, and other civic leaders.Mr Leckey lives on the Ards peninsula with his wife Pam, but is originally from Belfast where he attended Annadale Grammar School.The 59 year-old studied Modern History at Queen’s University which led to him obtaining a regular commission from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.He has since pursued a military and policing career spanning almost four decades, spending his early military service and his police career largely in Northern Ireland.In later years, as an Army Reservist, his position took him to Afghanistan, Ukraine, Uganda, Bangladesh, the USA and most of Europe.In addition to several overseas deployments, training and mentoring partner nation troops and police, Mr Leckey also participated in the military operation to support the NHS during Covid.Ten years ago the experienced military man decided to concentrate solely on the Army Reserve, retiring from policing as an inspector. In addition to commanding a rifle company in Belfast, Mr Leckey served as second in command of Queen’s University Officers’ Training Corps, and on the Academy Headquarter staff at Sandhurst.His list of service credentials also boasts a post as Deputy President at the Army Officer Selection Board, on the Staff of 38 (Irish) Brigade and latterly in UK Strategic Command.Besides a judicial function, Mr Leckey will carry the ceremonial and administrative role of the post which includes the execution of High Court writs.It is to the legacy of those with military service that he hopes to dedicate some of his time, working with veterans of some of the conflicts he has experienced.“Given my military and policing background I would like to engage with and support veterans’ organisations and soldiers charities in addition to supporting cadet and youth organisations,” he said.Continuing his role as Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve on a semi-retired basis, Mr Leckey spends his time between Northern Ireland and London, a role which also takes him to America several times a year.An unpaid role, the new post will carry on the legacy of the first High Sheriff of Co. Down, John Mandeville, who was appointed in 1326, though the civic role emerged in Britain even before that, in the eleventh century.It was previously a role for life but now welcomes a new person to the role each year, straddling the councils of Ards and North Down, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Newry and Mourne, as well as parts of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon. Taking up his appointment, the new High Sheriff said: “I am deeply honoured to have been appointed to this ancient office. It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of all of those singular men and women who have preceded me. “The earliest records list John Mandeville as High Sheriff of Down in 1326. It is humbling to assume that same office almost seven centuries later.“I hope I bring to this appointment a record of service: service to Crown, service to country and service to county; and I look forward to continuing that service in the year ahead,” he said.He said his role would support that of the Lord Lieutenant, ‘fulfilling my responsibilities to the Judiciary and working with all four councils in support of their efforts to enhance the reputation and promote the well-being of County Down’.
