A Queen's University Belfast academic is to write the official history of one of the most famous intelligence services in the world, MI6.

Professor Keith Jeffery's task will be to pen a history of the Secret Intelligence Service from its foundation in 1909 to the early Cold War and promises to cover the activities of the Service as well as its place in the British Government machine. It will draw on a range of government and other archives, including MI6's own.

Professor Jeffery, who is Professor of British History at Queen's, said he felt very honoured to have been selected for the role.

"I feel like a child in a sweetie shop," he said. "I have been given complete access to all of the relevant secret files for the period covered by the book, and the freedom to explore anything I find, although there are some necessary security constraints within which I will be working.

"I will not only be researching the service's history but I will be looking at the organisation in the context of its role as part of government during the period in question and I will be able to throw light on certain parts of history that have not had light shone on them before. This is such a tremendous honour for someone in my position because I have been given the opportunity to write such a crucial part of history."

Professor Jeffery has a long and distinguished career in Irish and British history. Born and bred in Belfast, he moved across the water to study history at Cambridge University in the 70s before returning home to teach history at the then Ulster Polytechnic and subsequently became Professor of Modern History at the University of Ulster.

Besides being a renowned educator, Professor Jeffery has also been the editor of the leading Irish history journal, Irish Historical Studies, for the past 10 years and is currently chair of the journal's Board of Management.

(MB/SP)