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DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson and top civil servant honoured for Queen's birthday

Jeffrey Donaldson said he was surprised to receive a knighthood in the queen's birthday honours. Picture by Alan Lewis-Photopress
Jeffrey Donaldson said he was surprised to receive a knighthood in the queen's birthday honours. Picture by Alan Lewis-Photopress Jeffrey Donaldson said he was surprised to receive a knighthood in the queen's birthday honours. Picture by Alan Lewis-Photopress

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson has been granted a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list.

The former UDR corporal, who was first elected in 1985, is among 101 people from the north to be recognised.

Mr Donaldson was the youngest person to take a seat in the Stormont Assembly at the age of 22 - and since 1997, he has been elected to Westminster five times where he sits on, among others, the defence and Northern Ireland Affairs committees.

The Lagan Valley MP began his political career as an Ulster Unionist but was among a group dubbed the "baby barristers" who opposed the direction being taken by former leader David Trimble.

In 1998, shortly before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Donaldson and Arlene Foster, now first minister, famously defected to the DUP.

As one of the party's most high profile politicians, he has been a key player in their negotiating team and is currently the DUP's chief whip.

Mr Donaldson said the honour took him by surprise.

"I see this honour, not just as a recognition of the work that I have done in over 30 years in active politics in Northern Ireland, but also a tribute to the people I represent and who have put their faith in me in a number of elections.

"So, I dedicate this honour to them and also to my family who have stood by me through some very challenging times and also to my party."

Despite the new title, Mr Donaldson, a married father of two daughters, has insisted he will not change.

"I'll always be plain Jeffrey to my friends and to the people that I represent," he added.

Dr Malcolm McKibbin, the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, has been awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) for delivering reforms and for his role in the negotiations which led to the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.

Almost half (48 per cent) of the 101 honours distributed in Northern Ireland have been awarded to women.

The oldest recipient in the region is 92-year-old Stanley McIlroy who has been given an MBE for his tireless fundraising.

The pensioner from Belfast has raised more than £800,000 for Cancer Research UK and continues to bring in an average of £10,000 a year.

At just 21 years old, plumbing apprentice Gary Doyle is the youngest person in the UK to receive an honour on this latest list.

In 2015, Mr Doyle, from Castlewellan in Co Down, won a gold medal for his plumbing and heating skills at the World Skills championships in Brazil.

Meanwhile, school lollipop lady Mary Stevenson has been given an MBE for services to education in north Belfast.

The pensioner spent more than 40 years as a dinner lady at Ligoniel and Ballyduff Primary Schools and has worked for the past 17 years as a school crossing patrol person.

Married couple William and Elizabether McCay have each been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to music and the community after they set up a series of summer music recitals in Belfast city centre church to showcase new young talent.