A prominent Irish-born businessman and a professor of English at Trinity College are to receive honorary awards in Queen Elizabeth's New Year's honours list.
Mr Niall Fitzgerald, the Sligo-born joint chairman of Unilever, is to receive a knighthood for services to UK business interests and public affairs. Well-known brands in the company's portfolio include Lyons Tea in Ireland, Flora margarine, HB ice cream and Bird's Eye frozen foods.
Prof Terence Brown, from Hollywood, Co Down, is to receive the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) for services to UK-Irish relations. A council member of the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, he lives in Sutton, Co Dublin. He is also a well-known author on literary, social and cultural affairs.
Dublin-based fashion designer Mr John Rocha (48) has been awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the fashion industry.
Other Irish citizens on the list include the Co Donegal singer, Daniel O'Donnell, who is to receive an MBE; Mrs Barbara Sweetman FitzGerald, who is to be made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Irish-UK relations; and Mrs Anne-Marie Hutchinson, who gets an OBE for her work in the area of international child abduction and adoption.
Mrs Sweetman FitzGerald is director of the Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations which was founded in 1938 to foster greater understanding between Irish people of different traditions.
Mrs Hutchinson, a London-based solicitor, is chairwoman of Re-Unite, an agency which deals with child abductions.
Mr O'Donnell (40) has been made an honorary Member of the British Empire for his contribution to the music industry. From Kincasslagh, Co Donegal, he has a substantial fan base in Britain and has performed many major concerts there over the past decade.
Mr Rocha, who was educated in Britain, was named British Designer of the Year in 1993. He based himself in Ireland after he was discovered by the then Irish Trades Council showing a collection based on Irish wool fabrics.