Dame Arlene Foster thrilled to be honoured in Platinum Jubilee year

Former Stormont first minister Arlene Foster has said she is “thrilled and delighted” to have been made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. The ex-leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, who was the first woman appointed first minister in Northern Ireland, said receiving a damehood in the Platinum Jubilee year made it all the more special. Dame Arlene, who represented Fermanagh and South Tyrone as a Stormont Assembly member for 18 years before leaving electoral politics last year, is the most high-profile name among 100 honours recipients from Northern Ireland.