MBE for Portrush man from Princess Royal

Portrush man Mark Little recently received his MBE from HRH Princess Royal at a special Order of the British Empire investiture, at Windsor Castle.
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Mr Little was recognised for his distinguished Services to Policing in Northern Ireland in the Queen’s Birthdays 2020 Honours List, however the ceremony was delayed because of the Covid crisis.

Speaking about receiving this national honour Mark said: “I was truly humbled and honoured to be presented with my MBE by a Senior Member of the Royal Family. I had a great conversation with Princess Anne. The setting for my investiture was very historic and helped to make this a most memorable occasion.”

Mark was a Founding Member of the expert Police Learning Advisory Council (PLAC) and during his 17 years of voluntary service, he became PLAC Vice Chairman and then its Chairman.

Mark J C Little MBEMark J C Little MBE
Mark J C Little MBE

Mark explained that this Learning Advisory Council was established following the recommendations of the 1999 Patten Report to create much greater community and business engagement, with successful business and professional leaders like Mark acting as critical friends to ensure greater accountability and transparency in Police Training in particular at the Northern Ireland’s Police College.

Always keen to recognise individual talent, as a former academic, Mr Little championed a service-wide Awards recognition scheme to promote and share best practice throughout the PSNI.

Indeed his pioneering scheme became so popular within the uniformed services community that it was subsequently extended to both the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service(NIFS).

Humble and keen to share the credit Mr Little said: “In accepting this MBE I also want to pay tribute to my fellow PLAC colleagues- both past and present - who worked tirelessly to give Northern Ireland a Best in Class, World Class reputation for Police Training.

“I am proud of what we achieved collectively, in what was an extreme policing environment.”

Mark has previously been recognised internationally for his contribution to Policing including His Excellency the Governor’s Coin for Excellence in Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring to the Police Services of Gibraltar.

Mark is the son of the late and well-known local artist and teacher George Little and his wife Jay.

Mr Little also gave valuable community service for 30 years as a volunteer Senior Coastguard Rescue Officer with HM Coastguard and with the US Coastguard Fifth District.