A British MP, journalist and novelist who campaigned for years to have the Birmingham Six released after their wrongful conviction for a bomb attack in England has been knighted in the British honours list.
Chris Mullin served as an MP for Sunderland South from 1987 until 2010. As well as publishing a bestselling series of his political diaries and four novels, including A Very British Coup, he worked as a journalist for ITV.
He played a pivotal role in securing the release of the six men who were wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, covering the story on multiple occasions for Granada TV’s World In Action current affairs programme. He published a book called Error of Judgement in 1986.
Following one lengthy but unsuccessful appeal in 1988, the six men eventually secured their freedom in a subsequent appeal in 1991.
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A Co Fermanagh Church of Ireland minister and Catholic priest whose churches the former British queen Elizabeth walked between in 2012 have also been recognised.
Dean of Enniskillen the Rev Kenneth Hall and Msgr Peter O’Reilly jointly hosted the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, which marked the first time the British monarch stepped inside a Catholic Church on the island of Ireland.
The clerics have built on the historic moment, hosting joint services between St Macartin’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church in Enniskillen in contrast to Northern Ireland’s extended battle with sectarian division.
They have been made OBE [Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] for services to reconciliation and peace-building.
In a joint statement, they said while their names appear, they regard the recognition as “belonging to many people across our community who, over many years, have chosen friendship over suspicion, encounter over separation and hope over fear”.
Ryan Moore is a top English flat racing jockey and the retained rider for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, linchpin of Coolmore Stud in Co Tipperary. He has been awarded an MBE [Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] for his services to racing. Richard Lyttle, former manager of Downpatrick racecourse in Northern Ireland, has also been awarded an MBE.
Also receiving an MBE is UTV newsreader Rose Neill (68), who has been a presence on television screens across Northern Ireland for more than 40 years.
Wesley Aston, a former head of the Ulster Farmers Union, was honoured with an MBE for his services to agriculture in Northern Ireland, having served as chief executive for a decade up until earlier this year, helping farmers in the North navigate the choppiest of Brexit waters.
The head of Amazon UK and Ireland, John Boumphrey, was given an OBE for services to technology, consumer and the digital commerce industry, having been at the helm of the tech giant’s operation here since 2020.
Bert Deane, an investigator with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains, which works to find the remaining members of the Disappeared, has been made an OBE. – Additional reporting by PA
