AMONG the last to receive telephone calls from the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, this week to be offered posts in his government were the junior Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Tony Worthington, and Northern Ireland's Minister in the House of Lords, Lord Alfred Dubs.
Mr Worthington (56), who was previously Dr Mo Mowlan's deputy shadow spokesman on the North, will have ministerial responsibility for education, training, employment, health and community relations. He was a lecturer in sociology before being elected to the Scottish seat of Clydebank and Milngavie in 1987.
Lord Alfred Dubs (65) will speak on all Northern Ireland issues in the House of Lords and will also have special responsibility for the environment and agriculture. Born in Prague and described as being on the left of the party, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1979, but lost his Battersea seat in the Tory landslide of 1987.