Celtic football club boss Martin O'Neill receives an OBE in the British New Year's Honours announced today.
He joins the rugby international David Humphreys (MBE), amateur golfer Garth McGimpsey (MBE) and Special Olympics organiser Mrs Evelyn Greer (OBE) on the list which includes some 46 people from Northern Ireland.
Also honoured is media consultant and former RTÉ journalist Mike Burns who is awarded an MBE for his work in fostering UK-Irish relations.
O'Neill joined the Glasgow soccer club as manager in 2000 having been lured from Leicester where he enjoyed Worthington Cup success.
Originally from Co Derry, he played Gaelic as a boy and soccer with Belfast club Distillery. He had European Cup success with Nottingham Forest and captained the Northern Ireland international side before moving into management.
David Humphreys, at 32 the youngest to be honoured from the North, captained Ulster when they triumphed over Colomiers in the European Cup final at Lansdowne Road in 1999. He is also Ireland's most capped fly-half. Like O'Neill, he is a graduate of Queen's University and had notable success for Oxford University, scoring all their points in the 1995 Varsity match. He receives an MBE.
Garth McGimpsey has had an illustrious career on the amateur golf circuit and has represented Ireland at Home International, European and Walker Cup levels. He first played for his country in 1978 and won the Amateur Championship at Royal Dornoch in 1985. The Bangor player was part of the Britain and Ireland team which recorded its first victory over the US in the 1991 Walker Cup. He captained the Britain and Ireland teams in 2002 and this year when they again defeated the Americans in the Walker Cup.
Mrs Evelyn Greer, a member of the Special Olympic International Board for 15 years, helped found the Irish Special Olympics movement in 1979. She worked to promote last summer's games in Ireland, the first time the event was held outside the US. She works for a range of organisations promoting the rights of those with disabilities and received an MBE in 1979 for her work. She receives an OBE.
Mike Burns receives an MBE for his contribution to British-Irish relations. He became RTÉ's London Editor in 1986 and began working for Encounter, a North-South cultural and education body, and the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body in the early 1990s. Originally from Leicester, he told The Irish Times last night he is "the proud holder of an Irish passport". He is still involved with Media Information Services which produces a media directory.