New Years Honours List 2023: Former Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council Chairman Robert McVeigh honoured with MBE

"There is no doubt about it - it is a bit of a shock and surprise," he told the News Letter.

"I have to say thanks to all those who felt I was worthy of recognition - all the way all the way up the ladder."

Originally from Dungannon, he taught physics in Killicomaine Junior High School in Portadown for 37 years.

A keen sportsman himself, his own background was in rugby, soccer and competitive shooting.

He began volunteering with the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council in 1991 and served at a variety of levels before becoming chairman in 2006, a position he held until late 2022.

Outside his tenure as chairman, the NI team had only secured medals in double figures on two previous occasions since the games began in 1930 - 15 medals in Edinburgh 1986 and ten in Victoria 1994.

But under his leadership they have secured medals in double figures in all four years he was chairman - ten in Delhi 2010, twelve in Glasgow 2014 and twelve at the Gold Coast 2018; He was also chair when Northern Ireland secured an all-time record of 18 medals in Birmingham 2022 – three more than the previous record of 15.

Being chairman was a challenging role with a big responsibility for so many people's hopes and dreams, he acknowledged.

"Yes definitely. I hope I have helped them and their organisations as well, because the Commonwealth Games is an umbrella organisation dealing with various governing bodies of sport, and they are answerable as well to the Commonwealth Games Federation which is the parent body.”

He adds: “It is worth noting as well that during the period of time that I've been involved, The Commonwealth has also grown significantly. We've had South Africa and Pakistan coming back in and two more countries in the past year.

He has taken great satisfaction in seeing others excel under his leadership.

"There were quite a few sports that hadn't won medals ever at the Commonwealth and those sports have now won medals - and we've had more sports winning medals than ever before," he told the News Letter.

The path to this award initially saw him involved in sport personally, in particular football and rugby.

However shooting was his main interest - having been a previous captain of the Irish target shooting team.

"And from there I progressed into coaching and management, volunteering and volunteering in a variety of roles."

"Overall I would say I felt good and a bit surprised at this news. You are certainly humbled by it, by people having faith in you and feeling that I was worthy of recognition."

In November Robert was also presented with his Commonwealth Games Federation Order of Merit Award in Singapore by CGF President Dame Louise Martin. The award recognised his service of more than three decades to Commonwealth Sport in Northern Ireland and internationally.