NORTHERN IRISH golf Major winners Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy head the list of Northerners honoured in the British New Year’s Honours list released today.
Clarke, who won the British Open in July, and McIlroy, who shot to glory at the US Open the previous month, pick up an OBE and MBE respectively for services to golf.
Clarke (43), from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, won the Claret Jug at Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent, the 54th time he had contested for a Major trophy.
The maiden victory was especially poignant for Clarke, who lost wife Heather to breast cancer in 2006.
Meanwhile, the MBE for Holywood’s McIlroy (below), who currently sits third in the world golf rankings, is the latest stage in a rapid rise that many predict will see the 22-year-old become the global number one sooner rather than later.
The honour caps an impressive year for McIlroy, who is seen as one of the most exciting prospects in the golfing world. His victory at Congressional Country Club in June saw him become the youngest winner at the competition since Bobby Jones in 1923.
Prof Judith Hill, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hospice, is awarded the honour of Dame for services to people receiving palliative care in Northern Ireland.
Prof Hill began her career as a nurse in St Thomas’s hospital in London before making the move to nurse education, specialising in palliative care. She took over as chief nursing officer for Northern Ireland in 1995, rising to her current position in 2005.
She was part of a consortium that established the All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care in Dublin in 2010 and the previous year she became a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing.
State Pathologist Prof Jack Crane is made a CBE for services to forensic pathology. The 57-year-old Belfast man first joined the Northern Ireland pathologist’s department in 1980 as a registrar, later becoming a consultant and then being appointed department head in 1990.
His career has seen him investigate several of the most horrendous atrocities in the Troubles, including the Shankill and Omagh bombs.
Also on the list is Jeff Dudgeon, the well-known gay rights activist, who is awarded an MBE for services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Northern Ireland.
He first came to prominence after taking the court case that eventually saw homosexuality decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 1982.
Among those also honoured with MBEs are poet Sam Burnside, founder of the Northern Ireland Transplant Association David Robinson and publisher Richard Sherry.