At this time of year, I like to announce my New Year Honours for people who have impressed me during the past 12 months.
Christina Nelson – This woman could give Bette Midler a run for her money. People gravitate to Christina, and theatre audiences love her. Although in her mid-50s and mother to four children, this most versatile of actresses hasn’t stopped working since she first set foot on stage at the age of 10 in the Lyric production of Oliver.
Since then, she has gone from the chorus line to leading lady. She has played a nun, a ghost, a garden gnome, a cabbage, a risqué dancer in Cabaret, Bilbo Baggins, and she’s about to become Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Lyric. Man, woman, or child, Christina will find joy in every part.
It seems to me the world is this woman’s stage: as long as there’s an audience, she comes alive. During COVID, she led her colleagues to front gardens to put on shows for families and visited care homes to perform to residents through the window.
At this time of year, I like to announce my New Year Honours for people who have impressed me during the past 12 months
Anne Hailes
The week before Christmas, they visited the Northern Ireland Hospice to sing songs and recite poetry. After a well-earned break for one day, St. Stephen’s Day heralded rehearsals and saw Christina don the glad rags of Miss Prism.
Apart from all of that, she’s writing a show with music for the Strand Picture House and Cuckoo Land, a play about women’s rights in Northern Ireland. “Living’s good,” she says, “but you get back what you put in, and this woman puts in 100%.”
Donna Traynor – Like many people, I have always admired Donna. As a broadcaster, she was second to none: trustworthy, in charge, accurate, pleasant to listen to and look at. The Royal Television Society recognised this when she was twice nominated for Presenter of the Year.
When she parted from the BBC, Donna went through a court case, held her head high, and came out the other end excited to embark on a new life. Although in the spotlight for many of her 33 years with the BBC, Donna is a very private person.
It was a delight to visit her and her husband, training consultant and broadcaster Ronan Kelly, during the warm days of last summer. We sat in their garden, and Donna’s touch was all around—a little oasis to relax among flowers of all colours, an outdoor place to recharge and escape the pressures of everyday life.
Despite meeting many celebrities and dignitaries, her focus has always been on young people entering journalism, acting as a role model and mentor to many, especially women. Her advice and guidance are valued. She is still recognised for her skill in drawing a programme together, scripting, and presenting at the top level.
Today, she is “live” hosting events around Northern Ireland, for both the public and corporate organisations. She is in demand and loving the change in emphasis. Much of her work involves charities; having become deaf in one ear as a child, support of deaf societies is close to her heart.
“I look ahead to 2026 with hope that I am gifted with good health and able to grab whatever opportunities come my way.”
Brian Symington MBE – You think you know someone until you prepare a citation for a New Year’s Honour! Brian is mainly associated with social caring. In the early 1980s, he was a social worker, became a house father at Jordanstown schools organising sports activities for children both blind and deaf, and became Northern Ireland director for the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, based in Wilton House, Belfast.
Most recently, he served as chairman of Sense, a hub on Annadale Avenue, Belfast, where young people and their families can find sanctuary. This complex is specifically designed for those who are deafblind or have complex disabilities, whether learning, physical, or related to autism.
But what I didn’t know was that in another life, Brian would have been an international football player.
“In the Holyland where I lived, I played football in the street and developed my skill with keepie-uppies, but as a teenager I had a dilemma: football or going into missionary work.” Football won. The day came when he was trialling for the schoolboy international team in Lurgan—and there was a certain boy there also. Brian was selected, but George Best wasn’t! George admitted in his book Blessed that he was devastated.
Brian went to England to play, first to Brighton, and came home to headlines in the local paper: ‘Simington is the one to watch.’ It looked like a golden future. Best had gone to Manchester United, and, at 16, Brian was offered a trial with PSV Eindhoven in Holland, undoubtedly on the way to stardom—until a high-speed collision with a goalie, a knee in the side of his head, ended his dream. He was 17. “And I was forgotten.”
He stayed at home, played at Distillery, and scored six goals against Glentoran in six matches, which was outstanding—but not in his wife Edna’s family, who were staunch Glentoran fans!
His missionary work in the world of the deafblind began. He spearheaded the 6th World Congress in Mental Health and Deafness, which established the Belfast Statement of Mental Health, now internationally recognised, with countries using it as the basis of their services.
This coming year, after a 100-year campaign, British and Irish Sign Language legislation will be recognised. Brian now works for the Sports Chaplaincy, lending an ear to young people in sport—something George Best longed for, saying if he’d had someone to talk to outside family and football, his life would have been very different.
Olivia Nash MBE – Sadly, Olivia broke her back in September but is recovering well and is now in her usual positive, good spirits. It was spring 2000 when I first sat with her to talk about her life and times. A household name since UTV went on air 66 years ago with the famous commercial, people still call out to her, “Hey Fred, where’s the bread?”
This actress has been treading the boards for over 60 years, not including amateur dramatics in her hometown, where she was a member of Larne Drama Circle.
At 18, she won Best Actress appearing in My Flesh, My Blood in the Grand Opera House, and immediately two local entrepreneurs invited her to join their theatre companies. She opted for James Young at the Group Theatre. Hibby Wilmot was not well pleased.
“I learned a lot from Jimmy, all about timing and how to handle hecklers. He would just lower his voice until you couldn’t hear him, and the audience dealt with the rowdies.”
Nowadays, the studio has taken over from the stage, and she has become Ma in BBC comedy Give My Head Peace. Although she’s known as a comedian, Olivia is a respected character actress who was awarded an MBE for services to theatre and charity, most notably the Hospice movement.
It hasn’t all been roses. She became a single parent at 39; her daughter was just nine. “Bill died suddenly of a heart attack.” Naturally, she was devastated, but Olivia Nash is a strong and resilient woman. She battled bureaucracy and came out with knowledge of the system and coping as a single parent. That lonely time is well behind her, although she still talks to Bill. A busy lady, happy in her own skin, and a joy to know.
Congratulations to all my honoured friends, and a happy New Year to the many friends I’ve made through this page in this special newspaper.
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