The Mayor of Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council, Councillor Billy Webb, MBE, JP, hosted a reception in Yarn Suite at Mossley Mil in recognition of the significant achievement of being awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (QAE). Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, attended to present the coveted awards to:

• Environmental Street Furniture
• Inspec Vision Ltd
• Texthelp Ltd 

​The Lord-Lieutenant was joined by his Lord-Lieutenant Cadet, Cadet Sgt Robert Allen, of 1st (NI) BN ACF. 
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To find out more, please click here.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, presented two Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) this week. The QAVS is known as the MBE for volunteer groups and is the highest honour which can be given to volunteer groups across the UK.

On Wednesday evening, the Lord-Lieutenant presented the QAVS award to North Antrim Agricultural Association. North Antrim Agricultural Association has received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of the role it plays in organising the annual Ballymoney Show. The presentation took place at a special reception held at Lissanoure Castle hosted by the Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Richard Holmes. For more information, please click here.

On Thursday evening the Lord-Lieutenant presented the QAVS award to Atlas Woman's Centre, in Lisburn.

On Saturday the Lord-Lieutenant presented the QAVS to Rathfern Community Regeneration Group in Newtownabbey 

Below is a slideshow of images from the presentations.

Today the Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, KStJ, takes over the role of Knight Commander of Ards, the head of the Order of St John in Northern Ireland. The Commandery of Ards overseas the Order's activities in Northern Ireland, which are primarily focused on St John Ambulance NI. He succeeds the Viscount Brookeborough, KG, KStJ.

​The Commandery of Ards sits within the Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John. The Order of St John is a British Order of Chivalry, with HM The Queen as Sovereign Head. HRH The Duke of Gloucester is the Grand Prior.

24th June marks the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist or “St John’s Day”. The Order is dedicated to John the Baptist and it has the motto "Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum", which translates as 'For Faith, For Service to Humanity' and reflects the Order's Christian values. 

The Lord-Lieutenant's appointment as a Knight of St John can be view on the London Gazette by clicking here.

Congratulations to the 19 people from County Antrim who were honoured in The Queen's Birthday Honours list released this evening. County Antirm continues to have a high percentage of the honours issued in Northern Ireland. The honours issued are made up of 8 MBEs and 11 BEMs.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, expressed his hearty congratulations to all the recipients and thanked them for their selfless service to the community and Northern Ireland as a whole.

The full County honours list is as follows:

Order of the British Empire

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 
Mrs Afaf Abdrabou ALY - Lisburn
 
Chair, Egyptian Society of Northern Ireland. For services to UK-Egypt Relations and Anti-racism in Northern
Ireland (County Antrim).
 
Mr David Alexander BROOKES -Lisburn
 
Civilian Security Officer, Northern Ireland Security and Guarding Service. For services to Defence and to Charity (County Antrim)
 
Ms Margaret Christine DAVIS -Whiteabbey
 
For services to Community Relations in Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Mr David JEFFREY-Newtownabbey
 
Manager, Ballymena Utd. For services to Association Football and Community
Relations in Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Mr Stanley James LEE -Ballymoney
 
For services to People with Learning Difficulties in Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Mrs Marian MCCOUAIG - Ballycastle
 
Principal, Kylemore Nursery School, Coleraine, Ulster. For services to Education (County Antrim)
 
Mrs Angela Eileen REID -Islandmagee
 
For services to Care Home Residents particularly during Covid-19 (County Antrim)
 
Mr John STUART- Ballymena
 
For services to the community in Ballymena, County Antrim (County Antrim)
 
Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)
 
Miss Lynsey Anne AGNEW-Lisburn
 
For services to the Lisburn Foodbank, especially during the Covid-19 Crisis (County Antrim)
 
Mr Andrew COCHRANE -Ballymena
 
For services to Disability Sport and Mental Health Awareness (County Antrim)
 
Mrs Tracey Yvonne ELLIOTT -Lisburn
 
Manager, Lisburn Unit, St John Ambulance. For voluntary service to St John Ambulance and the community in
Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Mr Thomas David HAIGHTON -Carrickfergus
 
For services to Adults with Learning and Physical Disabilities (County Antrim)
 
Stephen John MCCOY-Toomebridge
 
Fundraiser, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. For services to the community and Charity in Toomebridge, County Antrim
(County Antrim)
 
 Trevor MCKENDRY-Cullybackey
 
Maintenance Foreman, Education Authority, Northern Ireland. For services to Education (County Antrim)
 
Mrs Pamela-Ann NUGENT-Carryduff
 
Personal Secretary, Executive Officer 2, Department of Finance. For services to Men and Boys with Eating Disorders in Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Miss Valerie Elizabeth PEACOCK -Ballymena
 
For services to the Children’s Hospice, Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Anna Rosemary STEELE- Stoneyford
 
For services to Cross Community Relations in Northern Ireland (County Antrim)
 
Mrs Deborah Elizabeth WALKER-Carrickfergus
 
For services to the community in Belfast (County Antrim)
 
Robert Alexander YARR -Upper Ballinderry
 
For services to Church Choral Music in Ballinderry Parish Church (County Antrim)


The full honours list can be viewed on the London Gazette website, by clicking here or copying the following link:

www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/63377/supplement/B1

If you know someone worthy of an honour, have a look at our dedicated honours page or do please get in touch.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, presented the Ballymoney Branch of the Royal British Legion with their Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. The Ballymoney Branch won the QAVS in 2020, but due to COVID19 the presentation was delayed. The QAVS is known as the MBE for volunteers groups.

The Lord-Lieutenant presented the QAVS to the President of the Ballymoney Branch, Major John Pinkerton TD, DL, a retired Deputy Lieutenant of County Antrim. 

The timing was significant as next week see the 100th birthday for the Royal British Legion. It also coincides with the Centenary celebrations of Northern Ireland. 

The Lord-Lieutenant was joined by the High Sheriff of County Antrim, Mrs Sue Pinkerton and the Mayor of Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council. The Mayor also presented with the Branch with a certificate to recognise their 100th birthday.

The Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell, would like to congratulate the three winners of the coveted Queen's Award for Enterprise from County Antrim.

The winners were announced today by The Gazette and are:

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• Environmental Street Furniture was established in 2012. Based in Newtownabbey, the company designs and manufactures a range of innovative outdoor furniture  which is solar powered to offer IOT reporting, mobile phone charging and LED lighting. It has recently also launched a range of perimeter security products to protect pedestrians and buildings from terror attacks. The company had previously manufactured conventional outdoor furniture and had established a sales network across the world. It now sells in 26 markets worldwide and its top five markets are UAE, Hong Kong, Kazakstan, USA and Spain. Overseas sales have grown year on year  over three years by a total growth of 415%; and the percentage exported has risen from 40.5% to 78%. The company wins the Queens Award for International Trade  for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over three years.  

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• InspecVision Ltd is based in Mallusk, Northern Ireland and started trading in 2003. They develop, manufacture and sell 2D and 3D measurement systems for inspection of manufactured  components. Their core sector is the sheet metal industry with customers producing components for the automotive, aerospace, defence and communications sectors. Customers feedback found a gap in the market for lower priced entry level machines which they developed, launched and now represents 25% of sales turnover. Their main competitors are multi-national companies with significantly greater resources in terms of finances, staff and brand awareness. Overseas sales have more than doubled in the last three years with customers in the United States, China, Germany, Mexico and Republic of Ireland. They reinvest back into the business on R&D into new products, product improvements and placing additional demonstration machines in customer showrooms. The company wins the Queen's Award for International Trade for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over the last three years.

 

• Texthelp Ltd was established in 1996 and is based in Antrim, Texthelp Ltd is a software company that creates software tools to help people with Literacy and Understanding by making software for students and adults with dyslexia, and for people learning or working in a second language. It believes that everyone's entitled to the best possible learning and language support on their own personal journey from literacy to life.' The company has offices in Antrim, Boston USA, and in Brisbane Australia. Over the past few years it has had 32 million users of its education software products. Its overseas sales have grown over the last six years by 215%; and the percentage exported has risen to 68%. The USA and Canada are its main markets and it has established new markets in the last six years in: Australia, UAE, Qatar, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Mexico. The company wins the Queen's Award for International Trade for Outstanding Continuous Growth in overseas sales over the last six years.

Please click here to see the full publication in the Gazette.

​​The New Year's Honours list is announced today and includes those who have been recognised for their work during COVID-19.

We are delighted to report that 22 people in County Antrim received national honours. Following the 28 people honored last time round, we are delighted that County Antrim continues to be well represented. 

The Full Honours list can be viewed on the London Gazette website by clicking here or by accessing the following link:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/63218/supplement/N1