
King's Birthday Honours – council employee with four decades of service honoured
The Lord Provost said he was particularly pleased to note that Frank Donoghue who led the team at the City Chambers until his recent retirement, was one of the recipients in the King's Birthday Honours.
Mr Donoghue received the British Empire Medal to recognise his four decades of working with The City of Edinburgh Council, and his role in Operation Unicorn after Her late Majesty died in 2022.
The Lord Provost said: 'Congratulations to all those who have been recognised in this year's King's Honours, whose achievements and service to the public have made such an impact.
'Our very own Frank Donoghue is a most deserved recipient. He demonstrated nothing but hard work and dedication to the city during his 44 years in service. From his original role in the then Lothian Regional Council to his retirement last year he went the extra mile to help keep the Council running.
'His varied career has taken in roles in caretaking, support services and building management, and I know that one of his more recent positions, helping to deliver Operation Unicorn following the Queen's passing, was one of his proudest moments.
'A well-loved and loyal colleague throughout his time here, Frank has provided support to councillors, officers and members of the public, and I'm personally grateful for his commitment. Thanks to Frank for his service to the city and congratulations for this well-earned accolade.'
Frank Donoghue left at his retirement party with the Lord Provost
Like this:
Like
Related
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Leader Live
21 hours ago
- Leader Live
‘Brilliant role model' and veteran ‘never imagined' being honoured at 106
Norman Irwin, described by his friends as inspirational and a brilliant role model, served in north Africa during the Second World War before going on to make a difference in his home town of Coleraine. He helped to form the Coleraine Winemakers Club, recalling initially using nettles and dandelions, as well as becoming one of the founders of the town's Rotary Club and the Agivey Anglers Association. Mr Irwin is the oldest person to be recognised in this year's Kings Birthday Honours, and is just one of three recipients over the last 10 years aged 106, as well as being Northern Ireland's oldest man. He said he was very proud to be recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM), adding it had come as a big surprise, joking he was 'getting on a bit'. Born just a few days after the end of the First World War in 1918, Mr Irwin went on to serve in the Second World War, volunteering in April 1939 to join the Coleraine Battery of the Royal Artillery as a gunner. He described the battlefield in north Africa as stretching thousands of miles and getting chased across the desert by German troops in tanks. The sand presented a major challenge, he described, in terms of logistics, and he even engineered his own guns when they lost the tools to maintain them. 'We lost the tools for them in the sand, so we made our own – you learned to adapt to it very very quickly, you just had to get on with it,' he said. 'You do what you have to do in times of need. 'We were all volunteers here (in Northern Ireland), we weren't conscripted, so we all just went off en masse as our own decision. We never imagined what it was going to be like. 'People talk about the desert rats, but it didn't really get the same coverage as France. 'The First World War took a lot, and the Second World War took even more, terrible times.' Mr Irwin said the sheer distances involved in the conflict in north Africa is often what surprises people the most. 'People just didn't understand the distances when they talk about the Germans when they chased us back across north Africa, it was about 1,500 miles,' he said. 'They all think it's a small localised battle, but it wasn't, it was over a 1,500- 2,000-mile stretch. 'When they chased us back across the desert, they had tanks and we didn't have any, we couldn't cope with those, couldn't fight them, the only thing to do was to leave. 'Then we got reorganised and prepared, and we chased them back across again. The armoured divisions arrived once they realised what we were up against.' He went on to become one of the founding members of the new Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in October 1942 and he was soon promoted to sergeant. 'I was demobbed at the end of the war and came back home to Northern Ireland, and got a job as an engineer in a local factory and it all went from there,' he said. 'Everything that we did in the forces had an application in industry.' Back home, Mr Irwin helped form the Coleraine Winemakers club in the early 1960s. 'It was beer and wine, home hobbies at the time were quite the thing, and of course people would say to others, 'what do you think of my wine', so we formed a wine club had competitions for people who made wine out of nettles and dandelions, and all sorts of things we could find in the fields,' he said. 'It was quite potent. 'It moved on from that to a higher level, using grapes.' Asked about the held esteem he is held in, Mr Irwin responded: 'People say these things, I wouldn't put myself in that category. 'I enjoyed all those things as well, of course.'


The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
‘Brilliant role model' and veteran ‘never imagined' being honoured at 106
Northern Ireland's oldest man has said he had never expected to receive an honour from the King at the age of 106. Norman Irwin, described by his friends as inspirational and a brilliant role model, served in north Africa during the Second World War before going on to make a difference in his home town of Coleraine. He helped to form the Coleraine Winemakers Club, recalling initially using nettles and dandelions, as well as becoming one of the founders of the town's Rotary Club and the Agivey Anglers Association. Mr Irwin is the oldest person to be recognised in this year's Kings Birthday Honours, and is just one of three recipients over the last 10 years aged 106, as well as being Northern Ireland's oldest man. He said he was very proud to be recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM), adding it had come as a big surprise, joking he was 'getting on a bit'. Born just a few days after the end of the First World War in 1918, Mr Irwin went on to serve in the Second World War, volunteering in April 1939 to join the Coleraine Battery of the Royal Artillery as a gunner. He described the battlefield in north Africa as stretching thousands of miles and getting chased across the desert by German troops in tanks. The sand presented a major challenge, he described, in terms of logistics, and he even engineered his own guns when they lost the tools to maintain them. 'We lost the tools for them in the sand, so we made our own – you learned to adapt to it very very quickly, you just had to get on with it,' he said. 'You do what you have to do in times of need. 'We were all volunteers here (in Northern Ireland), we weren't conscripted, so we all just went off en masse as our own decision. We never imagined what it was going to be like. ' People talk about the desert rats, but it didn't really get the same coverage as France. 'The First World War took a lot, and the Second World War took even more, terrible times.' Mr Irwin said the sheer distances involved in the conflict in north Africa is often what surprises people the most. 'People just didn't understand the distances when they talk about the Germans when they chased us back across north Africa, it was about 1,500 miles,' he said. 'They all think it's a small localised battle, but it wasn't, it was over a 1,500- 2,000-mile stretch. 'When they chased us back across the desert, they had tanks and we didn't have any, we couldn't cope with those, couldn't fight them, the only thing to do was to leave. 'Then we got reorganised and prepared, and we chased them back across again. The armoured divisions arrived once they realised what we were up against.' He went on to become one of the founding members of the new Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in October 1942 and he was soon promoted to sergeant. 'I was demobbed at the end of the war and came back home to Northern Ireland, and got a job as an engineer in a local factory and it all went from there,' he said. 'Everything that we did in the forces had an application in industry.' Back home, Mr Irwin helped form the Coleraine Winemakers club in the early 1960s. 'It was beer and wine, home hobbies at the time were quite the thing, and of course people would say to others, 'what do you think of my wine', so we formed a wine club had competitions for people who made wine out of nettles and dandelions, and all sorts of things we could find in the fields,' he said. 'It was quite potent. 'It moved on from that to a higher level, using grapes.' Asked about the held esteem he is held in, Mr Irwin responded: 'People say these things, I wouldn't put myself in that category. 'I enjoyed all those things as well, of course.'


North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- North Wales Chronicle
‘Brilliant role model' and veteran ‘never imagined' being honoured at 106
Norman Irwin, described by his friends as inspirational and a brilliant role model, served in north Africa during the Second World War before going on to make a difference in his home town of Coleraine. He helped to form the Coleraine Winemakers Club, recalling initially using nettles and dandelions, as well as becoming one of the founders of the town's Rotary Club and the Agivey Anglers Association. Mr Irwin is the oldest person to be recognised in this year's Kings Birthday Honours, and is just one of three recipients over the last 10 years aged 106, as well as being Northern Ireland's oldest man. He said he was very proud to be recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM), adding it had come as a big surprise, joking he was 'getting on a bit'. Born just a few days after the end of the First World War in 1918, Mr Irwin went on to serve in the Second World War, volunteering in April 1939 to join the Coleraine Battery of the Royal Artillery as a gunner. He described the battlefield in north Africa as stretching thousands of miles and getting chased across the desert by German troops in tanks. The sand presented a major challenge, he described, in terms of logistics, and he even engineered his own guns when they lost the tools to maintain them. 'We lost the tools for them in the sand, so we made our own – you learned to adapt to it very very quickly, you just had to get on with it,' he said. 'You do what you have to do in times of need. 'We were all volunteers here (in Northern Ireland), we weren't conscripted, so we all just went off en masse as our own decision. We never imagined what it was going to be like. 'People talk about the desert rats, but it didn't really get the same coverage as France. 'The First World War took a lot, and the Second World War took even more, terrible times.' Mr Irwin said the sheer distances involved in the conflict in north Africa is often what surprises people the most. 'People just didn't understand the distances when they talk about the Germans when they chased us back across north Africa, it was about 1,500 miles,' he said. 'They all think it's a small localised battle, but it wasn't, it was over a 1,500- 2,000-mile stretch. 'When they chased us back across the desert, they had tanks and we didn't have any, we couldn't cope with those, couldn't fight them, the only thing to do was to leave. 'Then we got reorganised and prepared, and we chased them back across again. The armoured divisions arrived once they realised what we were up against.' He went on to become one of the founding members of the new Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in October 1942 and he was soon promoted to sergeant. 'I was demobbed at the end of the war and came back home to Northern Ireland, and got a job as an engineer in a local factory and it all went from there,' he said. 'Everything that we did in the forces had an application in industry.' Back home, Mr Irwin helped form the Coleraine Winemakers club in the early 1960s. 'It was beer and wine, home hobbies at the time were quite the thing, and of course people would say to others, 'what do you think of my wine', so we formed a wine club had competitions for people who made wine out of nettles and dandelions, and all sorts of things we could find in the fields,' he said. 'It was quite potent. 'It moved on from that to a higher level, using grapes.' Asked about the held esteem he is held in, Mr Irwin responded: 'People say these things, I wouldn't put myself in that category. 'I enjoyed all those things as well, of course.'