Ex North of Ireland Scorer named on King’s Honours List!

Huge congratulations to ex North of Ireland CC scorer Roz (Roslyn) McMullan on being named in the recent King’s Birthday Honours List!

Roz was awarded an OBE (Officers of the Order of the British Empire) for services to Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Dentistry Profession in Northern Ireland. We caught up with Roz this week to congratulate her on this fantastic achievement and inevitably the conversation drifted back to her days at HQ, Ormeau and her time as scorer initially with the 2^nd XI and then the 1st XI.

“I started scoring with the seconds at North, courtesy of the 𝗥𝗲𝘃 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘆, sometime during the summer of 1988, after my late father, also a cricket lover,  suggested it one day at church. I remember having two training sessions with the legendary and quite brilliant 𝗣𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻, after which I was approved to fly solo!! I scored with the seconds until Pat’s retirement, and then took over his role scoring with the First XI. “

The legendary Pat Rogan retired from scoring for the First XI at the end of the 1994 season with Roz then taking on the role from 1995 until 1999. She only gave up the role due to her work commitments and the amount of travel. Roz actually lived in Limavady whilst scoring for NICC! It has been conservatively estimated that over her 11 years as scorer for NICC, Roz has travelled in excess of 30,000 miles for her love of the sport and NICC!

In her career Roz was appointed Consultant Orthodontist in the WHSCT Altnagelvin, Tyrone County and Erne Hospitals in 1991. With a special interest in treating children with cleft lip and palate, she established a cleft nurse liaison service. Alongside her clinical practice, she assumed management roles and became Clinical Lead for Specialist Surgery in the WHSCT before retiring in 2016.

Roz shared with us some additional insights about several challenging periods in her professional life and elaborated on the motivations that have guided her.

“During my career, eight dentists in Northern Ireland died by suicide within a year – three of whom I knew well. This prompted me to learn about suicide causes and prevention in medical professions. I completed training in stress awareness, suicide prevention, and mental health first aid, and founded a group called “Probing Stress in Dentistry” to address these issues and provide confidential referrals.

I co-chair the lobbying group DISCREET NI and have worked on stress awareness and suicide guidelines both nationally and internationally. I frequently speak about stress, burnout, and mental health to various groups, including retirees. I believe in recognizing and embracing life’s opportunities as they come.”

Roz has worked nationally and internationally on stress awareness, suicide prevention and postvention suicide guidelines. She will talk at the drop off a hat (in her words – some things don’t change) on stress and burnout, mental health to all sorts of groups, not just doctors and dentists. She recently  spoke to a Probus group with a slant on retirement and coping mechanisms to manage the meltdown of a grandchild in the supermarket!

As always though the conversation gets back to cricket and her memories of North at Ormeau.

“I had great support from the whole team, including 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗻𝗿, 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀, 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹 (who I see from time to time as he lives round the corner and is heavily involved in Limavady Rugby Club), 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝗹𝘇𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝘆𝗲𝗿, 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 and of course the vicar, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘆, These are a few, amongst many others, that always made me feel included. They were great days with many memories!

When you consider Roz’s dedication to her scoring duties with NICC, including the weekly round trips of 130 – 170 miles per match, it is hardly surprising that she has had such a successful professional career in her chosen field of dentistry. Such dedication and professionalism are rarely seen today. On behalf of former NICC members and all our members at CSNICC, we pass on our congratulations on your fantastic achievement – well done Roz!

We leave the last words to Roz.

“Isn’t it funny how life gives you opportunities and sometimes people see qualities in you that you do not recognise yourself. I believe it is all about recognising and embracing those opportunities.”