Honorary Degrees 2023-2024

On Friday 14 June 2024 honorary degrees of the University of Dublin were conferred on Leonard O’Hagan, Anna May McHugh, Colm O’Gorman and Herman Van Rompuy at a Commencements Ceremony in the Public Theatre. See Orations here.

Leonard O’Hagan (Sc.D.)

Leonard (Len) O’Hagan played a remarkable role in the public life of Northern Ireland both before, and particularly after the IRA ceasefire in 1994. In particular, he has been instrumental in fostering positive developments in relation to civic society, cross border trade and co-operation and in economic redevelopment in Northern Ireland. He was formerly a senior executive in the Smurfit Organisation and Fizwilton plc where he served as CEO, and was formerly Chair of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, the Metropolitan Arts Centre Belfast, and was Chief Executive of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also formerly Chair of the Northern Ireland Water Service and a Director of the College of Anaesthesiologists. Dr O’Hagan was Chair of the All-Ireland Congenital Heart disease network. He was a joint north south ministerial appointment as Chair of this new entity, and since its formation a world class service has been developed resulting in over thousand babies from Northern Ireland undergoing live saving surgical intervention in Crumlin Hospital Dublin. Dr O’Hagan is a Director of Belgium company Mediahuis, owners of the Irish Independent and Belfast Telegraph and also serves on the Board of Hillsborough Castle. In particular, his work in relation to cross-border initiatives aimed at fostering harmony and promoting the economy and tourism is truly remarkable. Thus, for example, he successfully chaired the development of an All-Ireland paediatric system, the world’s first cross jurisdiction clinical network. He also is a member of the Ireland Funds promoting and supporting peace, culture, education and community development across the island. For his many achievements, Dr O’Hagan was awarded a CBE in 2012, and Honorary Degrees from Queen’s University Belfast (2013) and Ulster University (2011). Dr O’Hagan is currently a Pro-Chancellor of Queen’s University of Belfast.

Anna May McHugh (LL.D.)

Anna May McHugh has been Managing Director of the National Ploughing Championships since 1973. Since that time, the National Ploughing Championships has become Europe’s largest outdoor agricultural trade exhibition. She has been acclaimed as the driving force behind the event’s spectacular growth. She is also the Irish Board Member of the World Ploughing Organisation since her appointment in 1997 as the first female on the Board. She has led the co-ordination of hosting the World Ploughing Contest on the five occasions it has been held in the Republic of Ireland. She has worked for the National Ploughing Association for almost 70 years first as a secretary to the founder, then company secretary and finally as managing director. In the 1970s there were 100 exhibitors at ‘the ploughing’ & 21 counties competing – today the event hosts nearly 300,000 visitors over three days, 1,700 exhibitors on 100 acres and 350 ploughing competitors. Anna May McHugh has driven its extension to include a tented trade village, a live cultural programme, fashion shows, a craft village, cooking demonstrations, sheep dog trials, equestrian events, an enterprise arena and other activities. Now after just turning 90, she still runs the multi-million euro operation from her home. As the driving force behind ‘the ploughing’ she was truly ahead of her time - a beacon for women in a man’s world. She recalls the early days as being very difficult. “In the years that I speak about, women were not at the top of organisations as such [and] I remember the days when there were only men folk coming to the Ploughing, and I thought ‘we must do something about that’.” It is her involvement that has made the event more inclusive and family friendly. Anna May attributes her success to the team she has around her from ploughing associations right around the country. She has always believed in bringing people along with her and says she would never ask anyone to do something she would not do herself. In 2024, still running the show, 24 years after the national retirement age she has now also become a beacon for older people as an Age Friendly Ambassador for her home county of Laois.

Colm O’Gorman (LL.D.)

Colm O’Gorman is one of the most important Irish figures working in the area of human rights in the last fifty years. As the victim of child sexual abuse, he fearlessly confronted the prevailing stigma and shame surrounding sexual violence against male victims – for example through working with Sarah McDonald in co-creating the ground-breaking documentary ‘Suing the Pope’ and in playing a pivotal role in the BAFTA winning, eye opening exposé ‘A Family Affair’ which unmasked the systemic failures of state services in the UK. In addition, he was fundamental to the successful campaign for the setting up of the Ferns Inquiry into clerical sex abuse in the diocese of Ferns. Perhaps most notably he established the One in Four charity (first in London in 1999 and then in Ireland in 2002) for victims of child sexual abuse – a charity that has provided immeasurable support to victims in its mission to break the cycle of abuse. He has also been involved in multiple other campaigns related to social justice and social equality (and has had to deal with horrific online and in-person abuse from opponents as a result) most famously the Marriage Referendum in 2015 when his personal narrative and that of his daughter were hugely influential. Perhaps most notably, he was the Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland between 2008-2022 and in that position became one of the figureheads of the entire Irish Human Rights movement. He is currently Global Director of Community Engagement at the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative and Board Member of the Open Community. In all his roles and because of all he has done, Colm O’Gorman is one of the key figures in the story of Irish social transformation since the 1990s. He has received multiple awards and honours for his work including the 2023 Trinity Historical Society Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to Public Discourse.

Herman Van Rompuy (LL.D.)

Herman Van Rompuy is a Belgian and European statesman. He was Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008-2009 but then, yet more significantly, he was the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009-2014. In both contexts his work involved dealing expertly with hugely complex matters. In his role as Prime Minister, he is primarily remembered for the manner in which he contributed to navigate Belgium’s response to the global economic recession – which led to him being described as ‘the painstaking builder of ‘impossible compromises’. Similarly, the then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised Mr Van Rompuy’s success in bringing political and economic stability to Belgium after months of uncertainty. He was extraordinarily effective as president of the European Council. His presidency was notable in particular for his opposition to far-right forces, his wholehearted commitment to the European project and his support for multiple global initiatives (including measures to tackle climate change). More specifically, he was critical to the manner in which the European Council tackled difficult issues arising out of the global recession, including sovereign debt crises (particularly that of Greece). Since his retirement from the European Council, he has been appointed as i.a. Chair of the College of Europe, Honorary President of the European Policy Centre, and, since 2022, Honorary Professor of the National University of Kiev. His extraordinary work has been reflected in the numerous international honours he has received and the multiple honorary doctorates with which he has been conferred.

On Friday 1 December 2023 honorary degrees of the University of Dublin were conferred on Michael Coey, Susan McKay, Fergus Sheil and Mary Irvine at a Commencements Ceremony in the Public Theatre. See Orations here.

Michael Coey (Sc.D.)

Michael Coey has had a career of over 40 years in Trinity College Dublin. His field of research is magnetism and magnetic materials. Michael is a visionary experimental scientist with a unique gift for conceptualizing and evaluating the key issues in magnetism quantitatively, allowing him to discover new magnetic materials and make significant contributions to the future of magnetic technology. He is not only Ireland's leading physical scientist, but also a world-leader in this subject. His diverse contributions to magnetic minerals, amorphous magnetism, rare earth permanent magnets, spin electronics and unexpected effects of magnetic fields, especially on water, have been internationally recognized, especially in France and China. He pioneered a new form of international scientific cooperation in the ten-year Concerted European Action on Magnets, which associated 80 academic and industrial centres interested all aspects of the properties, processing and applications of rare-earth iron permanent magnets. He ranks with the best 0.01% of all scientists in the world for impact and citations. In a long career, he has published five books and 800 scientific papers with numerous collaborators from his international TCD research group and abroad, benefiting from sustained support from the European Commission and Science Foundation Ireland. His reputation has been largely established by over 40 years’ work at TCD where he promoted the founding of the CRANN nanoscience centre and the Science Gallery. He is the only one of six Irish fellows of the Royal Society who is also an overseas member of the US National Academy of Science. His curiosity and enthusiasm for science remains undiminished.

Susan McKay (Litt.D.)

Susan McKay is a Northern Irish journalist, broadcaster and writer whose contribution to the public life of Ireland, both North and South is quite simply remarkable. What is particularly notable is the manner in which she has combined her writing and her public participation in areas of huge social importance - in particular in relation to (a) the position of women and especially of victims of sexual and other abuse and (b) a heightened understanding of Northern Ireland and particularly the position and perspective of Northern Irish Protestants. She grew up in Derry and got an entrance scholarship to Trinity College. After completing her undergraduate degree, she returned to QUB to study for a PhD but left this to co-found and take on the role of the director of Belfast Rape Crisis Centre (1982). Her extraordinary work in this organisation and at this critical time cannot be overstated. Moreover, her deep concern for and efforts on behalf of victims of sexual abuse is reflected in her first book Sophia’s Story (1998) a moving and powerful biography of a survivor of sexual abuse. She has worked consistently as a most highly respected journalist. Her writing in relation to both Northern Ireland and to feminism, has been recognised as having integrity and authority and has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, the Guardian the London Review of Books and The Irish Times. Awards include National Media Print Journalist of the Year (2000), Feature Writer of the Year (2001) and Amnesty, Irish Print Journalist of the year (2002), Best Short Documentary, Galway Film Fleadh (2014), Irish Woman of the Year (2011). Moreover her landmark book Northern Protestants - On Shifting Ground was shortlisted for Irish book of the year 2021, and for the Michel Déon award. Her book “Bear In Mind These Dead” chronicled the Northern conflict through the stories of those bereaved by it, and she has worked extensively with the WAVE Trauma Centre, documenting the stories of victims and survivors. Her documentaries include The Daughter's Story, about the daughters of the murdered Miami Showband singer Fran O’Toole and Inez, A Challenging Woman about Human Rights leader Inez McCormack. She was the CEO of the National Women's Council of Ireland (2009-2012) but resigned in protest at a 40% cut in government funding for the organisation. In July 2022, she was appointed by the Irish Press Council as the new Irish Press Ombudsman, the first woman to hold this post.

Fergus Sheil (Litt.D.)

Fergus Sheil is among the best known graduates of the Department of Music in Trinity College and one of the most important classical musicians working in the area of opera in this or any part of Irish history. He was formerly the Head of Music at Opera Ireland, Chorus Master of Scottish Opera, Artistic director of the Opera Theatre Company, Founder and Artistic Director of Wide Open Opera and director of the Crash Ensemble. From a Trinity perspective, as an undergraduate he established the Trinity Orchestra in 1989, which is still operating 34 years later, having provided unparalleled opportunities to student players, conductors and composers in this time. He is, however, perhaps best known as the founder & Artistic Director of Irish National Opera (since 2018). The canon of his work is breath-taking. He has conducted 51 operas (including 20 world premieres) in theatres, concert halls, site-specific locations, on CD, film and radio broadcast. Highlights include Ireland’s first Wagner Tristan und Isolde for 50 years and first Rossini William Tell for 170 years as well as the Irish staged premieres of Strauss Elektra and Donizetti Maria Stuarda. As a conductor he has worked in 136 venues in Ireland as well as internationally in the UK, USA, South Africa, Australia and throughout Europe. As an opera producer he has overseen 80 operas (including 35 world premieres) in venues throughout Ireland as well as touring Irish productions to London (Barbican and Royal Opera House), Edinburgh International Festival, New York, Amsterdam and Luxembourg. Several of his operatic productions have won national and international awards including Olivier Award (Bajazet), Fedora Opera Award (The Second Violinist), Fedora Digital Prize (As an nGnách), Fedora Next Stage Award (Scorched Earth Trilogy), Irish Times Irish Theatre Award – Best Opera Production (The Last Hotel, The Second Violinist, The Barber of Seville, Hansel and Gretel) and Business to Arts Best Use of Creativity in the Community (Shelter Me From The Rain). If this was not enough, he has also worked as conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, NI Opera, State Choir Latvija, BBC Singers and many other groups. He also has given incredibly generously of his time to Trinity College – including designing and delivering a new module in the Department of Music. Perhaps most notably, his work in relation to Irish National Opera since 2018 has radically altered the entire opera landscape in this country. There are few careers in the arts that have had such a consequential impact as Fergus Sheil.

Mary Irvine (LL.D.)

Judge Mary Irvine’s contribution to Irish law and the Irish legal profession is outstanding. She was first called to the bar in 1978 and became a Senior Counsel in 1996. During this time, she argued many important Irish medical and constitutional law cases of this or any era. It is as a judge, however, that she made her most lasting contribution to Irish public life. She was appointed as a judge of the High Court in June 2007. When the Court of Appeal was established in October 2014, she was immediately appointed as a judge on that court, writing some of the most important judgments of the court between 2015 and 2019. In April 2019, she was appointed to the Supreme Court (and was, in this time, appointed by the Chief Justice to chair the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee of the Judicial Council). Finally, in June 2020, she was appointed as the President of the High Court. This final appointment was especially significant for two reasons: first, it meant that she was the first judge in the history of the state to have held four separate judicial offices. Secondly, it meant that she was the first ever female president of the High Court. Both her work and her prominence mark her out, along with women like Mary Robinson and Susan Denham as one of the genuinely inspirational trailblazers for Irish women lawyers. On her retirement, in 2022, the measure of her contribution to Irish law and Irish legal practice was summed up by the Attorney General Paul Gallagher who referred to her ‘…immense contribution to the law, to public service and to society.’