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THE SATURDAY INTERVIEW; FERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI:He stepped on a few toes as president of DCU, but Ferdinand von Prondzynski will be missed. What next for the unpredictable, unpronounceable professor? asks PAUL CULLEN

HE IS A socialist baron, a Labour-leaning university head with a soft spot for Bertie Ahern and Charlie Haughey, and an Irishman with a tricky German-Polish name. He has spent his working life in universities and served as the boss of one for the past decade but is blase about the need for parents to send their children to third level; indeed, his two sons haven’t take that route. He looks the part of the pointy-headed academic you might expect, but he is equally at ease discussing the finer points of AC/DC lyrics and Strictly Come Dancingor tweeting students a third his age. He is, finally, a lawyer who thinks Ireland has too many lawyers.