The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, and the senior Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, Mr Reg Empey, have received knighthoods in the British New Year Honours List.
A total of 67 people in the North, including 13 RUC officers, are honoured. They include Sgt Philip Marshall, who directed emergency services after the Omagh bomb.
The honours list is drawn up principally by the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, with recommendations from the public and nominations from Buckingham Palace. The list, published this morning, contains 981 names, including 560 people recognised for voluntary service. This year there was an emphasis on honouring "those who have helped give peace a chance" in the North, Downing Street said.
The former US senator, Mr George Mitchell, who chaired the talks leading to the Belfast Agreement, is given an honorary knighthood as a Grand Knight of the Order of the British Empire.
The former Conservative prime minister, Mr John Major, is made a Companion of Honour for his services to peace in Northern Ireland.
The same title goes to one of Mr Mitchell's two co-chairmen, Gen John de Chastelain of Canada. The former prime minister of Finland, Mr Harri Holkeri, the other co-chairman, becomes an honorary Knight of the Order of the British Empire.
Knighthoods also go to two British civil servants closely involved in the peace process, Mr John Holmes and Mr Quentin Thomas.
A spokesman for Mr Blair said he had wanted to honour some members of the nationalist community in the North but the awards were turned down.
Ms Gareth Peirce, the solicitor who has for years represented Irish victims of miscarriage of justice in British courts, was honoured for "services to justice", and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Mr Flanagan, appointed Chief Constable two years ago, said he felt tremendously honoured, but it was the work of the RUC which had been recognised. Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, chairman of Sinn Fein, said the award to Mr Flanagan was "a slap in the teeth to the nationalist community which has been at the receiving end of RUC oppression and brutality for decades."
Mr Empey, who also received a knighthood, was a senior negotiator during the Stormont talks and is a close associate of the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble. He is a former lord mayor of Belfast.
Mrs Joanna McVey, managing director of the Impartial Reporter, received an OBE for services to the community.
Sports figures honoured include Prince Naseem Hamed, the World Boxing Association featherweight champion, who received an MBE, as does his Irish former trainer, Mr Brendan Ingle.
The abstract painter Bridget Riley becomes a Companion of Honour while a knighthood goes to the actor Nigel Hawthorne.
See also pages 8 and 9