The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, has announced that the next head of the North's Civil Service will be Mr John Semple (57). He will succeed Sir David Fell, who retires at the end of this month.
Married with two sons and a daughter, Mr Semple was educated at Campbell College, Belfast, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated in history. He joined the civil service in 1962.