Isabel Apsley and Dianne McMillan: New Year Honours for Larne women

Former Paralympian gold medallist Dianne McMillan is to be presented with the MBE for services to swimming and disability awareness.

Isabel Apsley receives the BEM for services to the St John Ambulance and the Red Cross in Northern Ireland.

Mrs McMillan is Northern Ireland’s most successful Olympian or Paralympian. She won two gold medals, a silver and two bronze in her first Paralympic games, in Seoul in 1988, and went on to win a further bronze medal at the Barcelona Games four years later.

In 2011, she was chosen to carry the Olympic Flame through the borough in the run-up to the London Games of 2012.

She now provides encouragement, advice and assistance to disabled children and their parents.

Originally from Garvagh, Mrs Apsley is a long-serving member of the St John Ambulance in Larne, which she joined in 1994 following a number of years with the Red Cross.

She recently established the Inver Museum, dedicated to the history of the St John Ambulance.