Monday 15 October 2007

President of Ireland coming to the University of Otago

The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, is to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at the University of Otago. The degree will be conferred at a special ceremony on Wednesday 31 October.

Announcing her visit, Vice-Chancellor Professor David Skegg said the University is delighted that President McAleese has accepted its invitation to receive an honorary degree. “Her achievements as a legal academic and as a national and international leader make her a thoroughly deserving recipient.”

Mary McAleese was born in Belfast in 1951. She graduated in Law from the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974. In 1975, she was appointed as the Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin. She held this Chair until 1987, except for the period 1979–81 when she was a journalist and television presenter for RTE (the Irish equivalent of the BBC). In 1987, she returned to Queen’s to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she was appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the Queen’s University of Belfast – the first woman to hold this position.

In 1997, Mary McAleese was elected as the eighth President of Ireland, making her the first person born in Northern Ireland to hold the position. When her seven-year term of office ended in 2004, she announced that she would be standing for a second term in the 2004 presidential election. It is a mark of her performance in the position that she was elected unopposed, with no political party affiliation.

President McAleese has said that the theme of her presidency is “building bridges”. As a Catholic brought up in Belfast during “The Troubles”, she has worked hard for reconciliation between communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Indeed, her personality and flair for communication have made her a unifying force for Irish people, wherever they live.

Many New Zealanders have Irish ancestry and the University of Otago has recently established New Zealand’s first Chair in Irish Studies. This was made possible by the generosity of Irish businessman Eamon Cleary. Next year, Otago will be launching the first undergraduate programme in Irish Studies to be offered in Australasia. The first holder of the Chair, Professor Peter Kuch, is also developing postgraduate research activities in Irish Studies.

Professor Skegg said that President McAleese’s visit to the University is a tangible symbol of the strong relationship that the University of Otago aims to build with Irish universities and scholarly institutions in the years ahead.

President McAleese will receive her honorary degree at a ceremony at Marama Hall at 2.30pm. Media are welcome to attend but must bring photo identification, identifying them as members of the media. Please contact Brigid Feely (details below) if you are planning to attend, as space inside Marama Hall is limited.

Photo opportunities:
- The procession starts at 2.30pm at the Centre for Innovation (corner of St David and Castle Street North.
- It will proceed across the St David St foot bridge, between the two professorial houses (Scott/Shand and Black/Sale), past the Clocktower, to Marama Hall.
- The ceremony inside Marama Hall will last about 20 minutes, during which time there will be no opportunity to come and go. There is space aside for the media (upstairs, south) and staff will be on hand to guide you to this area.
- Immediately afterwards, President McAleese will make her way to the Clocktower.

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