As Belfast gears up to honour local nurses with the ‘Freedom of the City’ later this month, a draw has taken place for those who will be at the special ceremony.

The event in City Hall on the evening of Wednesday 25 May will be attended by nurses who currently work in or have previously worked in hospitals and other health care venues across the city.

The Royal College of Nursing allocated places for guests through a draw process and Lord Mayor Arder Carson assisted RCN Director Janice Smyth to make the final selection.

As well as the Freedom Ceremony on 25 May, an exhibition will open at Belfast City Hall on Tuesday, 24 May highlighting the exemplary work carried out by the nursing profession across the city down through the years.

The motion to grant the Freedom of the City was unanimously agreed by Belfast City Council last December.

The last Freedom Ceremony to be held in Belfast was in March 2015 for poet Michael Longley.

Previous recipients have included musician, Van Morrison in November 2013, Dame Mary Peters in May 2013 and poet John Hewitt in 1983. In 2002 a ceremony was held to mark the contribution made to the life of the city by the Merchant Navy.