OBE and MBE for Down and Dromore parishioners
Diane Ruddock, External Affairs Manager for the National Trust NI and a parishioner of Seapatrick, Banbridge, becomes OBE in the New Year’s Honours. She is joined by Harry Kissock, Information and Communication Technology Service Delivery Manager, PSNI, who becomes MBE and serves on the Select Vestry of St Dorothea’s, Gilnahirk.
Diane has been awarded an OBE for services to the environment, heritage and the community in Northern Ireland.
She has worked for the National Trust in Northern Ireland in a range of roles for the past 37 years, and plans to retire in March.
Diane is an active member of the Church of Ireland and in particular her home parish, Seapatrick Parish Church, Banbridge. She was commissioned as a lay reader in June 2023.
She said: “I am truly honoured to receive this award, but I’m also humbled, because in my role I rely constantly on the specialist knowledge and expertise of so many committed colleagues, both in the National Trust and the wider environment and heritage sector.
“Caring for God’s creation is also an important part of my faith life, and so it’s a huge privilege that I’ve been able to play a small part in standing up for nature and helping others to care for it and enjoy it. My faith has been the foundation on which I’ve based my working life.”
Before joining the National Trust Diane was a journalist, working on the Mourne Observer and the Dromore Leader. She is originally from Bessbrook, Co. Armagh, and lives in Donaghcloney.
Harry Kissock, who receives his MBE for services to the community in Northern Ireland, has worked in policing for 33 years. He continues to play a crucial role in ensuring that the PSNI ICT infrastructure can deliver effective, efficient, and sustainable solutions to support policing.
Congratulating all those in the PSNI who received awards, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said:
“Policing is an incredibly difficult job and I am delighted that a number of our officers and a member of police staff have been named in the New Year’s Honours List. Each has made an outstanding contribution to policing through their dedicated service. I was enormously impressed by what each has done in policing, it was humbling to hear their stories. It is a testament to their professionalism and to the support given to them by their families that the public service they have given over so many years has been recognised in this immense way. It was a privilege to inform each of them and to pass on my congratulations on their incredible achievement.”