King's Birthday Honours: Larne couple Patrick and Diane McCourt receive BEM for services to foster care
A dedicated Larne couple who have fostered hundreds of children over the years have been named in the King’s Birthday Honours list.
Patrick and Diane McCourt each received a British Empire Medal for services to foster care in Northern Ireland.
The couple, who have opened up their home to over 330 vulnerable children since becoming foster carers over four decades ago, previously received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award in 2022, as well as the Sunday Life Spirit of Northern Ireland Unsung Hero Award in 2019.
Earlier this year, they were recognised for their efforts by hit ITV show Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Pat and Diane, who continued into their early 70s to foster young children – even through the Covid pandemic – won a ‘Takeaway Getaway’ on the programme after being nominated by family members.
The news of their double Honours came while she and Pat were on a cruise holiday, Diane explained. “We’d got the letter a few weeks before, but we thought we were just shortlisted,” she added. “Then when we were in Crete, the text came through [from family] that our names were on the list. We couldn’t believe it.”
Pat and Diane first began fostering in the 1978, and it soon became a way of life for them. “When we first started, it was fostering newborn babies; then it got to older children and longer term. We just got that used to it,” Diane said.
Meanwhile, several of their former foster children still keep in contact. "I always enjoyed fostering, and my husband did too,” Diane added. “As our own children got older it was lovely to have the company in the house, and to have young children around at times like Christmas. I always thought, if we can bring a smile to their faces, we’ll know we’ve done a good job.”
Recipients from Northern Ireland make up 8.3 percent of the total number of recipients in the King’s Birthday Honours list this year.
Among the recipients in east Antrim were John Madden, principal of Roddensvale School; Stephen Mulligan, co-principal of Mossley Primary School, and Maria Quinn, principal of Abbey Community College.
In Carrickfergus, MBEs were given to Catherine Harper, founder of The Cithrah Foundation and Edward Adamson, NI Development Officer with the National Sheep Association.