REPUBLIC DAY HONOURS AND AWARDS

On Republic Day each year, the President, on behalf of the Government and people of Malta, pays public tribute to a number of Maltese citizens who distinguish themselves in different fields of endeavour, by appointing them to The National Order of Merit or to the Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika, or by awarding them the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika. Nationals of other countries may be conferred with honorary membership of the Order or of the Xirka or awarded the Midalja on an honorary basis.

This year's Investiture Ceremony again took place at The Palace, Valletta, on Wednesday, 13^thDecember 2000, immediately following the customary Ceremonial Parade held at the Palace Square.

During the Ceremony one officer and ten members were appointed to the Order, and eight individuals were awarded the Midalja. Moreover one honorary member was appointed to the Xirkaand one honorary member was appointed to the Order in the grade of Officer.

The Investiture Ceremony was the culmination of this year's process which started with a call for nominations made in September, to which a number of citizens responded by putting forward their nomination.

A short biographical note on each of the twenty-one distinguished persons honoured this year is attached.

The urbane and pleasant outgoing Ambassador of the European Communities in Malta since 1995. During his extended term of office in Malta, which was also marked by the first official visit of the President of the European Commission, the members of the different administrations he dealt with came to appreciate the consummate skills with which he carried out his duties. The genuineness with which he invariably sought to foster the best relations between Malta and the European Union at an important juncture in Malta's history was accepted and admired by all, not least by the many friends he made during his stay here.

A respected lawyer and political analyst known for his forceful views, he served in the nineteen-fifties and early sixties as honorary General Secretary of the Nationalist Party. He was a participant in the historic events leading up to and immediately following Independence, having been also a member of the delegations of his party and of the Malta Government in Constitutional, Independence, Defence and Financial Talks with Great Britain. Between 1962 and 1965 he was Political Secretary to Prime Minister Borg Olivier. He continues to this day to contribute regularly in the media on political and financial topics.

Since first coming into contact with Malta he has consistently extended to its Government and Armed Forces his invaluable personal support and co-operation as well as that of the Italian Ministry of Defence and of the Italian Navy of which he is a Rear Admiral. Thanks to his determination and untiring efforts, the first ‘Canale' naval exercise was held in 1994 in Maltese and Italian waters, a brainchild of his which has since expanded in scope into an annual regional event of standing, attracting the participation of an always growing number of countries bordering the Mediterranean littoral.

An educationalist who spent the best part of his life at St Edward's College which last year celebrated the seventieth anniversary of its foundation. During his fourteen-year term as the first headmaster of a Maltese school run on English private school lines he guided St Edward's through some difficult times and was instrumental in turning it from an elitist school into one accessible to all Maltese irrespective of background. In so doing he strengthened the academic worth of the college without in any way betraying the aspects of character training and all-round development always central to the ethos of the college. He was also very active in various local and European student sports organisations.

A retired Colonel in the Armed Forces of Malta who was for a long time responsible for all matters related to explosives engineering in Malta and Gozo. Proficient in his unusual work and endowed with strong personal courage, he regularly exposed himself to physical danger when tackling and rendering harmless hundreds of unexploded wartime ordnance. He also assisted, and continues to assist, as a court expert in the investigation of cases involving the criminal use of explosive substances.

A Priest and a friend in youth circles who, after returning to Malta in 1979, became the spiritual director of Sixth Form students and later the Archbishop's delegate for youth. He was instrumental in founding the Diocesan Commission for Youth and started Festa Żgħażagħ that has since become an established event in the local Church calendar. During his formation abroad as a priest he was involved in various projects aimed at helping youths. He also spent some time working with Mother Theresa in India. He is known for the humour he uses to deliver the message of truth.

Respected in international medical circles for his specialist work in anaesthesia and intensive care, particularly obstetric anaesthesia. Having graduated from the University of Malta in 1975, he is currently based at the Prince of Wales and Prince Henry Children's Hospitals in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of over 125 original research works, including two definitive textbooks on his subject. He has retained his links with the country of his birth and his many voluntary activities include the Chairmanship of the Board of Management of St Dominic Hostel in New South Wales that houses elderly Maltese emigrants. He is also the President of the Federation of Maltese Abroad.

FRANCIS LA FERLA M.O.M.

An authority in the field of health and safety and in occupational and environmental sciences, he catalysed the efforts and contributions of Governments, International Organisations and Institutions on such issues as Hepatitis B, pesticide and chemical hazards and health promotion. During his ten years' service with the WHO European Regional Office he was instrumental in increasing the Organisation's ties and co-operation with Malta. His many local voluntary assignments include support for the Workers Participation Centre, the overseeing and promotion of the work of students and advising Government entities in his area of interest.

JOHN MAGRO M.O.M.

A dynamic businessman and entrepreneur mainly responsible for the growth of the Magro Brothers Group of Companies from a small family business into one of the leading enterprises in Malta and the market leader of the Maltese Agro-Industry. The Group now comprises sixteen companies in various sectors and owns a large, purpose-built, technologically advanced factory in Gozo that employs the most stringent international standards of food hygiene. The President of the Gozo Business Chamber and an active member of the Maltese business community, Mr Magro is also a founder member of the OASI Foundation.

Outstanding both as a person and because of the multitude of activities to which she has devoted her energy. As a person she is a model that Maltese women cannot but admire and her high principles, both religious and social, are beyond question. An individual of outstanding charm, her many past honorary positions include membership of the Ladies Hospital Visiting Committee during the wartime years, founder of the Friends of the Little Sisters of the Poor and member of Din l-Art '�elwa, of the Community Chest Fund and of the National Council of Women, of which she was also President.

FORTUNATO MIZZI M.O.M.

Founder of the Social Action Movement and instrumental in the setting up of Caritas Malta of which he was the first Director. He is also a journalist and publicist. During his lifelong dedication to the improvement of the cultural, economic, social and moral conditions of Maltese Society, he championed the aspirations of the working classes also through the defence of independent trade unionism and the formation of co-operative movements. His commitment to social action through his Movement is complimented by his pastoral dedication as a priest. He also presents weekly programmes on Radju MAS.

A respected broadcaster and author. He started his working life as a teacher in the nineteen fifties when he also took up script writing. He was later appointed organiser of educational broadcasting, a pioneering position he continued to occupy for eighteen years. He served as member, and later chairman, of the Broadcasting Authority.The many plays, documentaries and scripts he wrote for radio and television include the popular long-running religious television programme Djalogu. His inimical anecdotal style is evident in, among others, his '�all-'�olma ta''�ajtu, Dħaħen tal-Gwerra, Inkwiet u Qaddisin and in his autobiographical Minn wara l-Mikrofonu.

A self-taught artist who honed his creative talents through first-hand observation in the foremost European art galleries. A sensitive painter and sculptor Pitre` is continually attracted by the terror and suffering so well portrayed in his ‘Scream' - a subject he painted, almost pathologically, on a number of occasions. Although portraiture is not his favourite genre, he is still one of Malta's best portrait-painters and in his paintings of many Maltese personalities he strives to capture not only the physical likeness, but also the soul, of the subject. He is also an unpublished poet.

MARIE ALEXANDER M.Q.R.

A dedicated person who has always been very active in the education of children with hearing disabilities. She organised the first meetings for the parents of these children even before the existence of any effective network to tap the information necessary for the children to develop a system of communication and to access language and education. She is the Director of the Institute of Linguistics at the University of Malta where a team of researchers which includes persons with hearing disabilities is being trained in language teaching. She is also the Chairperson of the National Commission for the Education of Deaf Persons.

Having lost his eye-sight in childhood, he managed to overcome his disability by spending most of his time listening to the problems of the sick and of persons with disabilities and by offering them words of comfort. His radio programmes were characterised by his light-hearted voice that invariably elicited a smile from his listeners. As President of the Society of the Blind, and also in his work in the Office for the Care of the Elderly he continuously sought to soften the daily struggles of life of his fellow human beings. He continues to do in his retirement.

CARMEL BUSUTTIL M.Q.R.

Il-Bużu cemented his name in Maltese football history when he earned his one-hundredth international appearance for Malta last February. Apart from possibly being the most gifted and outstanding personality in the recent history of Malta's most popular sport, he was over the years, and particularly in the period he played for the Belgian first division team Genk, an effective ambassador for Maltese sport. He has been for several years the captain of, and a prolific goal-scorer for, Malta's national team and has endeared himself to the Maltese sporting public.

An academic and teacher who was the first Maltese woman to become a full time lecturer at the University of Malta and whose spontaneity, enthusiasm and creative method of instruction have benefited countless students. She is one of Malta's foremost poets and has written and published many literary articles and short stories. Her writings in English include the long essay In Vindication of the Christian Commitment and the long story Anima. One of her poems was published alongside that of a Nobel Prize winner, in the one-hundredth issue of the prestigious English Poetry magazine, Orbis. Her Maltese poems, include Iżda Mhux Biss, a collection of forty-one poems.

A popular and talented actress who is best known for her humorous roles in numerous Maltese sketches and comedies on radio and television. As a broadcaster she began her career in 1957 when she joined Charles Clews and Johnny Catania in the fondly remembered Radio Muskettieriradio-play on Rediffusion. Other comic productions include the radio-serial F'Baħar Wieħed, and the comedy series Fuq Tlieta Toqgħod il-Borma. Ġemma Portelli also gained widespread popularity among the Maltese Community in Australia whom she visited on a number of occasions.

SPEDITU SCERRI M.Q.R.

His life-long occupation has been that of a baker. He is a strong believer in the traditional way of baking Maltese bread which should be kneaded by hand and baked throughout its process. Even when many of his colleagues abandoned the traditional process for the modern one involving the use of electric ovens, he persisted in baking bread the way his forebears had always done, thereby giving his clients the daily pleasure of continuing to experience the taste of the wholesome Maltese loaf.

MICHAEL SPITERI M.Q.R.

A popular writer affectionately known as Kilin. He first came to the attention of the Maltese reading public with the first of a cameo series of four booklets on wayside chapels in Malta. His lifelong love of the countryside inspired him in his dialogues with the fictitious character in the title of his essays, Tlikki Tlikki ma' Wenzu and Hawn Aħna Wenz. The simple, yet masterly, use of Maltese made his childhood memories in Fuq il-'�ajn ta' San Bastjan easily the most popular of his works. His nostalgic writings evoke the fast disappearing beauty of the Maltese environment. He has written many novels and plays and is proficient in a number of languages.

ĊENSU VELLA M.Q.R.

The President of the M'arr Farmers' Co-operative who possesses those good qualities that should serve as a model to farmer members of Maltese co-operatives. He managed to bring his co-operative back on its feet after being on the brink of bankruptcy. At great personal sacrifice, he also succeeded in his efforts to have a commercial centre built which doubles as an educational and social venue for the members of his co-operative. He is never afraid to experiment and was the one to pioneer butterfly sprinklers in Maltese fields.