Derry woman Roma Downey and husband Mark Burnett named third in Sunday Times Northern Ireland Rich List

Derry woman Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett have been named third in The Sunday Times' Northern Ireland rich list.

Ms Downey previously starred on CBS's drama series 'Touched by an Angel' for nine seasons.

With her husband, Hollywood producer Mark Burnett Ms Downey recently produced the Hollywood movie Ben-Hur and miniseries 'The Bible'.

Mr Burnett devised the US reality TV show The Apprentice that, in part, helped to increase the fame of its star, Donald Trump. Over 30 years ago Mark went to Hollywood with just $200 to his name but is now regarded America’s king of reality TV, having also dreamt up Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice.

Burnett is now president of MGM Television whilst his wife Downey acts as chief content officer of the faith and family division, alongside her acting career. They are collectively worth £390m, up £15m on last year.

Lady Ballyedmond is the richest person in Northern Ireland according to the list.

The widow of the late pharmaceuticals entrepreneur Lord Ballyedmond leads a list of the province’s 20 richest individuals and families, whose combined wealth has soared by £366m since last year’s edition of the Rich List.

Martin Naughton is the second richest in Northern Ireland and a new entry in this year’s UK rich list with a wealth of £1.19bn, more than three times higher than the next person on the list. Naughton is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest philanthropists and donated £18.3m last March towards arts and education, despite the pledge almost halving the profits of his Newry-based Glen Electric business.

More than 45 million Glen Dimplex heaters have been sold in the UK alone with the business owning 29 brand names including Belling, Stoves and Morphy Richards. Naughton previously appeared in the Irish Rich List on account of the global headquarters of Glen Dimplex business being in Dublin.