Originally from the Knocks, proud Fermanagh woman Marcella Leonard is honoured to have been selected for an MBE for Services to Social Work in Northern Ireland and Internationally.

Speaking about her honour, Marcella said: “For me, it is more about my profession of social work, as we don’t always get the recognition for our work that we do.

“I specialise in child and adult protection – that field in itself is very complex, as not everybody will feel that they have benefitted from social work. It is nice to be recognised.”

Marcella runs Leonard Consultancy, which specialises in assessment of the area of child and adult protection, an area which has grown significantly, and she works both locally and internationally.

A sister of the late Concepta Leonard, Marcella has spent some time in her work specialising in domestic violence.

She said: “I am reviewing how domestic abuse is managed in Northern Ireland, and it so happened that I was doing that anyway for the MARAC [Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference] process.

“In some ways, that has been difficult, with Concepta’s inquest to hear, in my opinion, where there has been gaps in the standard of practice, but then equally in some ways, it is good because I can inform change, going forward.

“Receiving this news in the last few weeks, given that I have been assisting the family with going through Concepta’s inquest, shows in some ways my work has been recognised.

“Sometimes it’s public knowledge work that people know about that I am doing, or it is work behind the scenes, but it is always about protection.”

Marcella is a daughter of Petey and Bridie Leonard, and she made a point of highlighting their influence on her when she was growing up, saying: “They are good, positive role models for working hard.”

A former student of Mount Lourdes, Marcella grew up playing camoigie at both a club and county level.

She enjoyed a trip down to Fermanagh at the weekend following the announcement of her honour to spend some time with her parents and family.

Marcella is married to Clarke Campbell and the pair have two sons, Bartley and Zachary, and her entire family have been delighted by the news of her MBE.

In addition to support from her family, Marcella is grateful for the support of her colleagues in the British Association of Social Workers NI.