The 76-year-old has been one of the country's best known and respected figures since winning the Olympic gold medal in the pentathlon at Munich in 1972. 

Dame Mary  competed for Northern Ireland in five consecutive Commonwealth Games, making her debut at Cardiff in 1958 and her last appearance at Christchurch in 1974.

She won four medals, including three golds, the penthatlon and shot put at Edinburgh 1974 and pentathlon at Christchuch.

Dame Mary, who was born in Halewood in England but who has lived in Northern Ireland for 67 years, also won a silver medal in the shot at Kingston in 1966.

She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2000 Birthday Honours for services to sport and to the community in Northern Ireland, and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 2015 New Year Honours.

Northern Ireland's premier athletics track, on the outskirts of Belfast, is called the Mary Peters Track in her honour and she has her own charity which aims to help athletes in the Province. 

Dame Mary is also a former Lord Lieutenant of Belfast.

She managed the British Athletics team at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games in Moscow and Los Angeles respectively. 

"Having competed for Northern Ireland in five Commonwealth Games, winning three gold and one silver medal, I feel privileged to, once again, help to represent Northern Ireland on the world stage," said Dame Mary. 

"Following the success of our athletes in Glasgow 2014, I am looking forward to more success at the Friendly Games in Australia in 2018."

Northern Ireland won a total of 15 medals at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, including two gold for boxers Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan in the light flyweight and bantamweight divisions.

It was their best performance since Victoria 1994 when they won five gold medals. 

Among the projects Dame Mary will be expected to help on in her new role is helping Northern Ireland's bid to host the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games and help drum up Government support for the campaign.