Queen’s Birthday Honours: Dame Arlene Foster thrilled to be honoured in Platinum Jubilee year

The ex-leader of the DUP, who was the first woman appointed first minister in Northern Ireland, said receiving a damehood in the Platinum Jubilee year made it all the more special.

Dame Arlene, who represented the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone as an MLA for 18 years before leaving electoral politics last year, is the most high-profile name among 100 honours recipients from Northern Ireland.

Patricia Donnelly, who ran Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme during the pandemic, has been made an OBE while the Grand Secretary of the Orange Order Reverend Mervyn Gibson becomes an MBE.

Abortion reform campaigner Sarah Ewart is made an OBE. Ms Ewart pressed for the liberalisation of Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws after being denied a termination in the Province following a diagnosis that her unborn child would die in the womb or shortly after birth.

Dame Arlene, 51, who has been honoured for political and public service, has long been a passionate supporter of the royal family.

“As a big royalist, it’s a huge honour to receive this damehood in the 70th year of Her Majesty’s reign,” she told the PA news agency.

“But also it’s an honour for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the place which I love and which I represented for 18 years and indeed for the whole of Northern Ireland because the citation talks about the fact that I was the first female to take the role of first minister, so I’m really, really pleased as you can imagine, I’m delighted.

“This is the Platinum Jubilee year and Her Majesty the Queen has given so much devotion and service to the country, so to receive it in her Platinum Jubilee year is really special for me. It’s a real thrill for me.

“I was hugely surprised and really delighted to receive this honour from Her Majesty in this very special year.”

Dame Arlene’s honour comes just over a year after she was forced to resign as DUP leader and first minister after an internal party revolt.

“All things happen for a reason, I’m very clear about that,” she told PA.

“And whilst of course I wouldn’t have chosen the manner of my departure, I have embraced the new opportunities and I have moved on and hopefully I’ll be able to do new and different things now in the coming years.”

The former solicitor from Rosslea in Co Fermanagh survived two horrific childhood experiences of IRA violence. She spent her early political career in the Ulster Unionist Party before defecting to the DUP in protest at the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and the leadership of then UUP leader David Trimble.

Dame Arlene still lives in Co Fermanagh with her husband and three children.

“The family are delighted and of course it’s for them as well, because they have been through all of those 18 years with me as a public representative, representing Fermanagh and South Tyrone, so it’s lovely for them as well,” she said.

Since leaving politics, Dame Arlene has embraced several new challenges, including a role as a TV presenter on GB News.

“I call it a portfolio approach,” she said.

“I’m doing some media work with GB news. I’m also writing, I’m doing some speaking events and I’m also involved in a pro-Union movement as well because obviously, if something brings you into politics, you don’t just leave it behind when you leave local politics. So I’ve been involved in a new pro-Union movement as well.”

However, she insists she is “much too young” to be thinking about penning an autobiography.

On whether she expects people to call her by her new title, she says: “I’ll always be Arlene from Fermanagh.”

Meanwhile, a veteran charity fundraiser has said he has no intention of stopping after being made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Noel McKee, 54, from Whitehead, Co Antrim, has helped raise more than £1 million for good causes.

He has been made an OBE for his services to charity in Northern Ireland, having been previously made an MBE two decades ago.

Mr McKee worked as a firefighter for more than 30 years, which is where he first became involved in charity work.

He said: “I got involved with our benevolent fund. I started by selling merchandise and then got more involved in different bits of charity work. Then I started doing fundraising for that and it all kind of spiralled from there.

“Whenever you are standing in fire uniform or with an engine people tend to come over to say hello and to support what you are doing.

“Everything I did over the years I made sure it was all local, that local charities, local places benefited from it.”

Mr McKee (pictured) left the fire service four years ago and now works as a counsellor but has kept up his charity efforts.

He said: “I am chair of the local food bank, I run community events and a music and mind festival. I like helping people.

“I would also like to pay tribute to my wife Gillian, who has put up with a lot over the years.

Mr McKee told how receiving the news about his OBE was bittersweet.

He said: “The letter arrived on the Friday, it was quite emotional because my mum had died on the Tuesday.

“My dad died in January. It was tinged with sadness. I thought how good would that be if they had been here?”