Former President of Ireland receives honorary degree from UCL

From left to right: Professor Alan Renwick, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit, Professor Jennifer Hudson, Vice-Provost (Faculties), Mary McAleese and Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit.
 

The former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from UCL on 13 May 2025. This took place at a graduation ceremony for students of four departments, including the UCL Department of Political Science, at the Royal Festival Hall.

At UCL, honorary degrees are awarded principally in recognition of exceptional scholarly or intellectual achievement and contributions of unusual importance in academic fields or in public life.

Mary McAleese is best known for serving as President of Ireland between 1997 and 2011. She was the first person born in Northern Ireland and only the second woman to become President. In her inaugural address, she defined the theme for her presidency as ‘Building Bridges’. Her work helped pave the way in 2011 for the first state visit of a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, which is widely seen as a milestone in the normalisation of relations between the two countries.

Mary McAleese has also campaigned on topics such as children’s rights, women’s rights and LGBT+ rights. Although she has received many honorary degrees, it is understood that this is the first from a university in London.

The Constitution Unit, in the Department of Political Science, has worked for many years on research projects related to Northern Ireland. This includes its 2021 Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland, 2023 report Perspectives on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and, most recently, its 2025 report Reform of Stormont: Options for Discussion.

The citation, read by Professor Alan Renwick, and Mary McAleese's address can be found from the 54 minute mark in the recording of the graduation ceremony.

Professor Renwick said:

Throughout her time in office, Mary McAleese focused on going beyond tolerance to encourage mutual understanding and appreciation. In her work to bring communities together, Mary has provided an inspiring example for how to manage – and to learn from and grow through – even the most profound disagreement.

To borrow the parlance of the Northern Ireland peace process, it has often been co-operation between Belfast, Dublin, and London that has brought such progress since the 1990s. Building on Mary’s strong ties with the leading universities in Belfast and Dublin, the presentation of an honorary degree from UCL is a symbol of our own commitment to the values that her lifetime’s work has embodied.

The UCL Constitution Unit, in our Department of Political Science, has worked hard over many years to foster greater understanding in London of politics in Northern Ireland. Many other parts of UCL – such as the Faculty of Laws and the Slade School of Fine Art – work closely in areas related to the Northern Ireland peace process and initiatives which promote reconciliation and community-building. It is work we are deeply proud to support and further, and it is a privilege today to welcome one of its defining proponents into the UCL community.

Mary McAleese said:

It is over fifty years since I graduated the hard way after four years of books, libraries, papers, cramming for exams, and very occasional student  shenanigans. I had not the foggiest idea of what life held for me and certainly did not imagine a day like this when my lived life would prompt a wonderful university of this calibre to offer me an honorary doctorate. I value it hugely and am very grateful. Thankyou.

For the generations of my family which preceded mine their expectations were limited by lack of opportunity, by poverty, by lack of access to education. For them, the chance I was given was like winning the lottery. How they would have loved to have had it. How they encouraged me and my generation to embrace it and let our lives flourish in ways unimaginable to them. So this gift of education is something precious still even today when we can too easily take it for granted. It is the leaven that allows us to rise, to become, to shape our own destinies.

Key links:

• Graduation ceremonies, 13 May 2025, 2:30pm – Watch the graduation ceremony in full, including Professor Renwick’s citation and Mary McAleese’s address.
• Nations and Regions – Read about the Constitution Unit’s Northern Ireland-related research.
• Honorary degrees and fellowships – Find out more about honorary degrees at UCL.