Friel receives prestigious Ulysses Medal

Honoured:Bloomsday awards for philanthropist and playwright

WORLD-RENOWNED playwright Brian Friel said he was “knocked out” to receive UCD’s most prestigious honour, the Ulysses Medal.

Friel, who turned 80 this year, received the award yesterday at a ceremony to mark Bloomsday.

Among those who turned out to honour the playwright were his friend Seamus Heaney, theatre director Michael Colgan and playwright Conor McPherson.

“To receive the medal on Bloomsday from the university where [James] Joyce himself studied makes it even more meaningful,” Friel said.

Prof Tony Roche of UCD’s school of English, drama and film, said Friel had helped, through his plays, to make Ireland a “more self-aware and assured place”.

Heaney said: “It is the proper thing to give a medal on Bloomsday to a man who is an honourable heir in the line of Irish theatre from Synge, O’Casey and the founders of the Abbey.

“He is a name in world theatre. As a person, he is a man of great integrity, great importance to writers and actors, and an influence for good both artistically and ethically in the community.”

Former Irish rugby Grand Slam hero Jack Kyle received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree yesterday.

Dr Kyle said he was supposed to receive the degree last year but was unwell and it was a happy coincidence that this year’s ceremony coincided with the year in which Ireland bridged a 61-year gap to win another Grand

Slam.

“It is remarkable for me to have these bonus years. It is wonderful to be honoured by a university,” he added.

“Rugby was wonderful but our careers, which were so important in the amateur era, came from our time at university. We were very fortunate that we could do both.”

Philanthropist Hilary Weston, reputed to be Ireland’s richest person, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature for her charitable work supporting health research and cultural, community and peace projects.

The Dublin-born former model married retailer Galen Weston in 1966. She is a former lieutenant governor of Ontario and the founder of the Irish Fund of Canada.

Weston, who lives in Toronto, said it was a “great honour, having left Ireland in 1972. It is a very moving experience.”

Poet Dennis O’Driscoll was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree.

John Joseph Collins, a renowned scholar in near-eastern apocalyptic writings, also received an honorary Doctor of Literature.

Kieran McGowan, widely recognised for his work with the IDA, was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws.

Chemist Richard Lerner received a Doctor of Science degree for his work in immunochemistry.