The British ambassador is now Dame Veronica Sutherland. Already a CMG, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth's Birthday Honours list last week. The honour has immediate effect but a ceremony will be held at Buckingham Palace, probably in the autumn, when the queen will lay her sword upon the ambassador's shoulder. It is understood the honour was bestowed for Dame Veronica's contribution to improving Anglo-Irish relations and for her part in the negotiations leading up to the Belfast Agreement. The first woman to represent the UK in Ireland, she has been in the diplomatic service for over 30 years and is due to retire next year. Dublin is her last posting. An anomaly in the British system means that her husband Alex, who has accompanied her to Ireland, gets no title. If the situation was reversed and it was he who was knighted, his wife would be a lady. Moves are already afoot to get New Labour to redress the situation.