Former president Mary McAleese is expected to be nominated to succeed her predecessor in Áras an Uachtaráin, Mary Robinson, as chancellor of Trinity College Dublin.
The process to elect a successor to Mrs Robinson will begin on Friday, and senior figures in Trinity are set to nominate Mrs McAleese and expect she would accept the role.
Mrs Robinson has been chancellor since 1998 and was the first woman to hold the position. The chancellor is the titular head of the University of Dublin, of which Trinity College is the sole constituent college, and represents it on ceremonial occasions and provides advice to the provost. The chancellor also chairs the university’s committee on honorary degrees.
Mrs McAleese declined to comment, saying it would be “entirely inappropriate to do so”.
Prof David McConnell, a fellow emeritus in genetics, said he would “be very anxious to nominate” Mrs McAleese.
Others in favour of Mrs McAleese becoming chancellor include Ivana Bacik, the Labour senator and current Reid Professor of Criminal Law in Trinity, a position formerly held by Mrs Robinson and Mrs McAleese. She said Mrs McAleese would be a “superb candidate for chancellor”.
Mr McConnell said Mrs McAleese’s “formal approval” must be obtained, but added: “My understanding is she would be happy to be nominated. I believe she would accept a nomination, which would be wonderful from our point of view. I am not aware of any other name being canvassed.”
He described her as one of the “most significant figures of the last 50 years”, adding: “This is a person who has shown herself to be deeply interested in scholarship.”
Higher degrees
Candidates must be nominated by 12 members of the University Senate, whose membership is open to those who have higher degrees from the University of Dublin. If more than one candidate is nominated, an election is held. The electorate is comprised of all members of the senate. Votes must be cast in person at a meeting of the senate. Nominations are open for two months.
Mrs McAleese is currently professor of children, law and religion at the University of Glasgow. She has completed a doctorate of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In recent weeks, it was announced that she won one of the Catholic world’s most prestigious prizes, the Alfons Auer Ethics Award, from Tübingen University in Germany for her doctoral thesis. She also served as pro-vice chancellor at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Mrs McAleese has been highly critical of the Catholic Church, which she last year described as “a primary global carrier of the virus of misogyny”. She described the World Meeting of Families, which saw Pope Francis visit Ireland last year, as a “right-wing rally”.
