Dougherty and Doherty among OBE recipients

Several familiar figures from the North West have received New Year's Honours from Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Pat Doherty of Harcourt Developments, pictured with family members and staff at the official opening of the Titanic Hotel in 2017, has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.Pat Doherty of Harcourt Developments, pictured with family members and staff at the official opening of the Titanic Hotel in 2017, has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.
Pat Doherty of Harcourt Developments, pictured with family members and staff at the official opening of the Titanic Hotel in 2017, has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.

The recently retired long-standing principal of Ebrington Primary School, Nigel Dougherty, has been newly appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Mr. Dougherty, who prior to his retirement last summer had guided Ebrington’s move to its new co-located site with Foyle College on the Limavady Road, received the nomination for “services to primary education and the community in Londonderry”.

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Another newly appointed officer of Britain’s OBE is Buncrana-native, Pat Doherty, the multimillionaire developer and chairman of Harcourt Developments.

Nigel Dougherty has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.Nigel Dougherty has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.
Nigel Dougherty has been appointed to the Order of the British Empire.

Back in 2003 Harcourt acquired a large tranche of land on Queen’s Island from Harland and Wolff’s parent Fred Olsen Energy, paving the way for the major redevelopment of the East Belfast docks.

Today Mr. Doherty has been recognised for “services to the transformation of the Titanic Quarter Site, Belfast.”

Coincidentally, a fellow director of Mr. Doherty’s family-owned business is Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, also an officer of the OBE, who happens to be the ex-husband of Elizabeth II’s daughter-in-law Camilla.

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Another local person who has been inducted into the order, on this occasion as a member (MBE), is Mrs. Celine Collette Craig.

Mrs. Craig’s “services to the community in Londonderry, Northern Ireland” earned her her appointment to the order.

Also honoured were Mrs. Elizabeth Fielding for her work with the Foyle Child Contact Centre which provides a relaxed neutral environment where parents and children who no longer live together can meet.

Mrs. Fielding has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM), which grants her affiliation to the order short of full membership.

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Well-known retired firefighter and city centre ranger, Hugh Kennedy, meanwhile, has also received a BEM, for “services to the community in Northern Ireland”.

Mr. Kennedy was last year recognised for his volunteering with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) at the charity’s 2018 Childhood Champion Awards.

Elsewhere, Danny Gallagher, one of the founders of Sion Swifts Football Club back in 1988, received a BEM for “services to football and community cohesion in Sion Mills”.

Eileen Doherty was awarded a BEM for “services to palliative and terminal care in Castlederg and West Tyrone”.