Chuck Feeney, the billionaire Irish American philanthropist, has been selected by all of Ireland's universities to receive an honorary Doctorate of Laws next month.
According to the Irish Times the conferral ceremony will be held on September 6 at Dublin Castle with Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn in attendance.
It is the first time that all of Ireland's universities north and south have coordinated such an honor and the unprecedented step is intended to acknowledge the scale of Feeney's contribution to the nation in general and to its universities in particular.
Feeney is the Irish American billionaire founder of Atlantic Philanthropies, which has donated nearly $954 million to Irish universities since 1990. His sole purpose was to create a brighter future and a better society for the people of Ireland, he revealed.
Feeney has said the best route to peace and prosperity is to help Ireland become a full participant in the knowledge society and knowledge economy, identifying Irish universities as the gateway institutions to achieve this purpose.
Feeney’s philanthropy has paid for new buildings on university campuses and state-of-the-art facilities throughout the island.
Feeney has also endowed chairs at universities and provided generous scholarships and other significant forms of student support.
Fenney's philanthropy has also supported new libraries and on-campus student housing.
The universities jointly conferring the degree include Dublin City University; the National University of Ireland; the National University of Ireland, Galway; the National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Queen’s University Belfast; Trinity College Dublin (University of Dublin); University College Cork; University College Dublin; University of Limerick; and the University of Ulster.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.casualMBA | Aug 12, 2012, 09:41 AM EDT
Perhaps, in his wisdom and wealth, Mr. Feeney will see fit to initiate and sustain (i.e., endow) a proper research curriculum honoring the contributions of the Fitzgeralds (and the uncorrected confiscation of their lands) in southwest Ireland.
WoundedKnee | Aug 09, 2012, 08:40 AM EDT
IrelandNorth: You seem like a pretty level-headed guy. I would suggest you do a little more investigation before assenting to the canonization of St Chuck.
IrelandNorth | Aug 09, 2012, 06:41 AM EDT
Chuck[ie] ár lá! - Tíocfaidh ár Feeney! - Fianniach ár lá! As a centre-left Christian socialist, I consider Chuck Feeney as the kind of guy who makes capitalism respectable. Although 3rd level education is generally the preserve of the already over privileged, it would have been better to fund scholarships for children from working class neighbourhoods. But I applaud him for his spiritual maturity.
IrelandNorth | Aug 09, 2012, 06:40 AM EDT
Chuck[ie] ár lá! - Tíocfaidh ár Feeney! - Fianniach ár lá! As a centre-left Christian socialist, I consider Chuck Feeney as the kind of guy who makes capitalism respectable. Although 3rd level education is generally the preserve of the already over privileged, it would have been better to fund scholarships for children from working class neighbourhoods. But I applaud him for his spiritual maturity.
WoundedKnee | Aug 08, 2012, 02:26 PM EDT
If you want to form a judgment of Feeney, ask yourself these two questions. 1/ How much has he donated for to support foreign migrants to Ireland, many of them entering and staying in the country in contravention of Irish law and using up scarce public funds in that country? 2/ How much has he donated for Irish emigrants, forced to leave their homeland? The answer to the first question is hard to calculate, because Feeney operates under a number of covers and titles, but it undoubtedly runs to many millions. The answer to the second question is Zero. Nada. Faic.
cillowen | Aug 08, 2012, 12:16 PM EDT
the power of gold is evident in the world as evidenced by those who with it gets the powers that be, jumping hoops for them.
cillowen | Aug 08, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT
The power of GOLD - those with it as can be appreciated decide our fate.
Portia777 | Aug 08, 2012, 10:23 AM EDT
Feeney is the Irish American billionaire founder of Atlantic Philanthropies, which has donated nearly $954 million to Irish universities since 1990. His sole purpose was to create a brighter future and a better society for the people of Ireland, he revealed." This is untrue and those who research deeply will find the real agenda.
bunkerhill | Aug 08, 2012, 10:18 AM EDT
God bless Chuck Feeney and all the people like him. They are the brightness in a dark world and the people our children should learn about as the heroes of the world instead of the mighty murderous conquerors which always started with "Alexander the Great." The conquerors should be portrayed as the meglomaniacs they were. I am so happy to see Ireland honoring Feeney in this way. I wanted to get in before the Irish naysayers show up, and they will.
torbreezy | Aug 08, 2012, 09:26 AM EDT
NOW that's "C O L L E G I A L I T Y".