Birthdays

TODAY: Mr Bertie Ahern, prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, 47; Miss Maria Aitken, actress and stage director, 53; Sir Lindsay Alexander, former deputy chairman, Lloyds Bank, 78; Mr Nicholas Barter, principal, RADA, 58; Miss Chili Bouchier, actress, 89; Colonel Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel, chief of the clan, 88; Mr Alan Cathcart, chairman, Avis Europe, 55; Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, 83; Miss Linda Gray, actress, 57; Mr Wesley Hall, cricketer and politician, 61; Miss Han Suyin, doctor and writer, 81; Mr Ian Holm, actor, 67; Mr Gerald Howarth MP, 51; Mr Freddie Jones, actor, 71; Mr Donal Lenihan, rugby footballer, 39; Ms Fiona MacTaggart MP, 45; Lord Milner of Leeds, solicitor and politician, 75; Mr Patrick Mower, actor, 57; The Right Rev Alan Rogers, former Bishop of Edmonton, 91; Mr Robert Simpson, chief executive, Press Association, 54; Sir Arthur Sugden, former chief executive, CWS, 80; Sir Gervas Walker, former chairman, Avon County Council, 78; Mr Max Walker, cricketer, 50; Miss Rachel Ward, actress, 41; Professor George Zarnecki, art historian, 83.

TOMORROW: Miss Carol Barnes, newsreader, 54; Sir Rodger Bell, High Court judge, 59; Miss Jacqueline Bisset, actress, 54; Lt-Gen Sir Derek Boorman, former Chief of Defence Intelligence, 68; Sir John Coulson, former Secretary- General of EFTA, 89; Sir George Engle QC, former first Parliamentary Counsel, 72; Baroness Fisher of Rednal, former MEP and local government councillor, 79; Lord Flowers, physicist and former vice-Chancellor, London University, 74; Professor Sir John Gunn, natural philosopher, 82; Dr Gordon Johnson, President, Wolfson College, Cambridge, 55; Sir John Kay, High Court judge, 55; Lord Moynihan, former MP, 43; The Most Rev George Noakes, former Archbishop of Wales, 74; Mr Colin Pickthall MP, 54; Sir Thomas Risk, former governor of the Bank of Scotland, 76; Mr Robert Sheldon MP, 75; Mr James Stuart- Smith QC, former Judge Advocate General, 79; Professor Sir Malcolm Sykes, anaesthetist, 73; Mr Mel Torme, singer, 73; Mr Shane Warne, cricketer, 29; Lord Weidenfeld, publisher, 79.