President Michael D. Higgins visit to Manchester
Uachtarán na hÉireann, President Michael D. Higgins travelled to Manchester where he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Manchester and delivered the inaugural lecture in a new series of lectures which will run at the University over the next five years.
The visit coincided with the tenth anniversary of the President’s State Visit to the United Kingdom in April 2014, and also with the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Manchester in 1824. The President has a strong personal connection with the University, having undertaken post-graduate studies at the University from 1968 to 1971.
On April 22nd 2024 President Higgins was conferred with the Degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Nazir Afzal OBE, in recognition of his extensive and significant contributions to literature and public life. The citation was read by Professor John McAuliffe, Reader in Modern Literature and Creative Writing and Co-Director of the New Writing Centre at the University.
The conferral ceremony, with a dinner in the President’s honour, took place at the Whitworth Art Gallery, which forms part of the University. The ceremony was attended by the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell.
This Honorary Doctorate joins other such awards which the President has received from Universities across a number of continents.
Following his conferral, President Higgins delivered the inaugural lecture in a new annual series of lectures which will run at the University. Titled the John Kennedy Lecture Series, the lectures will run for five years as part of the University’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
The title of the inaugural lecture, presented by President Higgins, is ‘Of the consciousness our times need in responding to interacting crises and the role of Universities as spaces of discourse in facilitating it’.
Over the course the visit, President Higgins took the opportunity of meeting with a number of contacts in universities and other institutions in Manchester, including some of those he previously collaborated with on academic projects. The President met with members of the Irish community who had been invited to attend the public lecture.
President Higgins' full 80 minute lecture, ‘Of the consciousness our times need in responding to interacting crises and the role of Universities as spaces of discourse in facilitating it’, delivered at University of Manchester on Wednesday night, is available to watch at https://youtu.be/K76IwggMbkk?si=OU1ita3PUbWMdiqT
You can read the President’s lecture on president.ie