A NEWLY-launched Ulster Bank note featuring the work of Lurgan-born astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell is in line for a global award.
The lucre has been short-listed alongside notes from places like Macau, Barbados, Egypt, Peru, Indonesia and Pakistan for the International Banknote of the Year Award, run by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS).
IBNS will consider the artistic merit, design, use of colour, contrast, balance, and security features of each nomination before naming a winner later this year.
Previous winners include Aruba's 100 Florin note in 2019 and Mexico's 100 Pesos note in 2020. Other past winners are from countries including Kazakhstan, Trinidad & Tobago and Uganda.
Ulster Bank's polymer £50 note, which came into circulation last summer, features Dame Jocelyn's iconic 1967 discovery of pulsars - spherical, compact objects that are about the size of a large city but contain more mass than the sun.
Dame Jocelyn, who was born in Lurgan, is considered one of the world's foremost astrophysicists. Her discovery was a sensational find, recognised with the Nobel prize for physics in 1974.
The design of the £50 note heavily features women working in the north's burgeoning life sciences industry. It also portrays 'Millies' working at the loom, as a homage to the unsung heroes of the region's great linen industry. These women were seen as 'unskilled operatives' at the time but are celebrated in the note for their skill and graft.
There are also nods to Northern Ireland's ship building and aviation sectors, the creative industries, and the region's place as a centre of excellence in cyber security.
On the other side of the note, there are a range of flora and fauna found in Northern Ireland, including a pine martin, a cryptic wood butterfly, and gorse, whose thorny spines make it a corridor and safe haven for wildlife.
Sandra Wright, senior HR manager at Ulster Bank, said: "The note designs are a celebration of the people and places of Northern Ireland, building on the designs of our £5, £10 and £20 notes.
"But this note has a particular focus on local women and women's role in life and industry here, including amazing achievements such as Dame Jocelyn Bell's discovery of pulsars. We are really honoured that it is short-listed for such a prestigious award."