Dr Ruth Barrington, chief executive of the Health Research Board; Tim O'Connor, the first Southern joint secretary of the North/South Ministerial Council; and businessman and best-selling author Bill Cullen were among recipients of honorary doctorates in law at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, yesterday.
Similarly conferred was Prof Curtis Callan of the Department of Physics at Princeton University, while horseracing expert and veterinarian Michael Osborne received an honorary doctorate in science. He has held positions on the Irish Horse Board, Horse Racing Ireland, the Turf Club and the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee.
Successful businessmen Bill Cullen is owner and chairman of Renault Ireland as well as author of It's a Long Way from Penny Apples and the recent Golden Apples: 6 Simple Steps to Success.
"As a fellow who was kicked out of school at 13 years of age, it is a great honour for me to receive this doctorate from such a prestigious university. It's a tribute to my late mother and grandmother that this great honour has been awarded to me," Mr Cullen said.
Mr O'Connor has spent most of his career with the Department of Foreign Affairs and has been involved with Northern Ireland, directly or indirectly, since 1986. He led the department team in negotiating the North/South bodies arising from the Belfast Agreement.
Dr Barrington is author of Health, Medicine and Politics in Ireland, 1900-1970 and has worked for over 25 years in healthcare in Ireland. Professor and chairman at the Department of Physics at Princeton, Dr Callan is a theoretical physicist who was awarded the prestigious Sakurai Prize in 2000 by the American Physical Society.
