Both have been recognised for their public service![\"Stormont's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_dnasklPNG.png\")
Stormont’s Department for Communities of Colum Boyle, permanent secretary at the Department for Communities, who has been made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours list, for Public Service(Image: Department for Communities\/PA Wire
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Two senior civil servants at Stormont departments have been recognised in the New Year Honours list.<\/p>\n
Colum Boyle, permanent secretary at the Department for Communities, becomes a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) while Ronnie Armour, interim permanent secretary at the Department of Education<\/a>, becomes a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).<\/p>\n Both have been recognised for their public service. Mr Boyle said he saw the honour as a recognition for the wider civil service in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI am extremely privileged to accept this honour, not just for myself and my family but on behalf of all the staff in the Department for Communities and the wider Northern Ireland Civil Service with whom I have worked throughout my career.<\/p>\n \u201cThis award is a wonderful recognition of the dedication and leadership shown by so many in serving the citizens of Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Armour is a former director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI\u2019m truly honoured and humbled. My career in public service has always been about one simple thing: trying to make a real difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n \u201cMy time as director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service was a hugely significant and rewarding part of my career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a demanding role, particularly during the pandemic, but also a huge privilege to work alongside such committed and resilient staff, whose dedication in often difficult circumstances left a lasting impression on me.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIn recent years, my focus has been on education and its power to change lives and futures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe commitment across the education sector is remarkable, from teachers, school leaders, and support staff to those working behind the scenes to shape policy and services.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have achieved any of this without the unwavering support of my family and the colleagues I\u2019ve been fortunate to work alongside over the years.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir encouragement, professionalism and shared commitment to public service have meant a great deal to me, and I\u2019m sincerely thankful to them all.\u201d<\/p>\n Click this link<\/a> or scan the QR code to receive breaking news and top stories from Belfast Live. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> <\/strong>and<\/strong> sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> <\/strong>here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both have been recognised for their public serviceStormont’s Department for Communities of Colum Boyle, permanent secretary at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1433,21747,105,1144,11191,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-662218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-coronavirus","9":"tag-department-for-communities","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-stormont","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115807951661669605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Stormont's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_dmaskldmaPNG.png\")
Stormont’s Department of Education of Ronnie Armour, interim permanent secretary at the Department of Education, who has been made an CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours list, for Public Service(Image: Department of Education\/PA Wire )<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1_WhatsApp-community-QR-code-Belfast1.png\")
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