Dee Conaghan made OBE while Hugo Duncan, Roisin Flynn and Neil Doherty are among MBE recipients in Charles III’s New Year Honours
Dee Conaghan has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Charles III of Great Britain and NI in the New Year Honours.
The co-founder of Stage Beyond has been recognised for ‘services to theatre and to education for adults with learning disabilities’.
Several people from the North West, meanwhile, have been made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Among them is 69-years-old Deirdre Amor, from Derry, a former principal of Sion Mills Primary School, who has been recognised for services to the community.
Neil Doherty, the 68-years-old co-founder of the Culmore Community Partnership (CCP), has also been made MBE for services to the community in Derry.
Hugo Duncan, the singer and broadcaster, has been made MBE for ‘services to entertainment and to the community’.
Roisin Flynn, a Derry-based Alzheimer’s support worker has been recognised for services to people affected by dementia in the WHSCT area.
Other local MBE recipients include William Black, from Strabane (for services to charitable fundraising); Catherine Clifford, Director of the Rural Community Network, from Maghera (for services to rural communities and to peace building); Henry Dolan, from Strabane (for services to the economy and to the community); Robert McKelvey (for services to Castlederg Credit Union and to the community in County Tyrone); Gareth Sayers, from Castlederg (for services to business and to the economy in County Tyrone); and the Olympic gold-winning medallist Hannah Scott, from Coleraine (for services to rowing).
Several other individuals have been made Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM).
Among them is 66-years-old Annie Crowe, the founder of the First Steps Children’s Centre, a cross community play group in the Killen area. She received a BEM for services to childcare in Tyrone.
Rachel Forbes, a senior officer at the Derry GP Federation, has been recognised for ‘services to NHS Primary Care’.
Limavady Priest Monsignor Bryan McCanny has been given a BEM ‘for services to the community in Limavady’; Carol Sproule, from Castlederg, has received one ‘for services to nursing and to the community in County Tyrone’; William Somerville, had been recognised for ‘services to the community of Limavady’; and Roberta Phillips, Chair of the Maghera Cancer Research Committee, received a BEM ‘for charitable services’.
Recipients from the North make up six per cent of the total number of recipients receiving honours this year.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities.
“They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does.
“The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.”
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, said: “Many congratulations to all the Northern Ireland recipients in His Majesty's New Years Honours.
"These outstanding individuals thoroughly deserve this recognition of the great work they do on behalf of their local communities.”
New Year Honours have been awarded by British monarchs to nominated persons from Ireland, Britain and the former British empire deemed to have realised “outstanding achievement or service to the community” under a convention established by George V of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1917.