Gloria joins select list of NI names in latest edition of Who’s Who
GLORIA Hunniford has been named in a new guide of the most influential people from around the world.
The Portadown-born television star (79) is among 700 names added to the exclusive Who’s Who guide for 2020.
Gloria is one of seven people who were born or are living in Northern Ireland to appear in the famous red covers of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive general reference book.
The Loose Women presenter, who also hosts BBC One series Rip Off Britain, lost her daughter Caron to breast cancer aged 41 in 2004.
She was awarded an OBE for her charity work through the Caron Keating Foundation she set up in memory of her daughter, which helps breast-screening services nationwide.
Also among the local entries in the 172nd edition of Who’s Who is Kieran Donnelly, Northern Ireland’s comptroller and auditor general.
Mr Donnelly has held the role within the Northern Ireland Audit Office since 2009 and in June he was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Northern Ireland’s chief veterinary officer (CVO) Dr Robert Huey is also included, alongside Moira Doherty, the recently appointed deputy secretary for Engaged Communities.
Self-proclaimed “fixer of broken things” Norman Fulton, deputy secretary of food and farming at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, appears along with Professor David Jones. Mr Jones has been Professor of Biometric Science at Queen’s University Belfast since 1999, and pro-vice-chancellor since 2014.
Ballymena-born David McIlroy, who was appointed ambassador to the Republic of Guinea in June of this year, also features, as does leading barrister Gerry McAlinden.
Mr McAlinden, from Ballycastle, is a former chair of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland and was appointed a High Court judge in 2018.
Another addition to the Who’s Who list is senior British Army officer Major General Colin Weir, who was born in Portadown, Co Armagh.
Mr Weir was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 2011 for courage and leadership over the course of six months in an area of intense insurgent activity in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.
Who’s Who 2020 features a wide variety of new entrants, from television presenter Johnny Ball to the director of the National Space Academy Anupam Ojha.