Keith Duffy 'proudest parent in the world' as daughter Mia graduates from DCU

The former Boyzone star, whose youngest daughter Mia was diagnosed with autism as a baby, said it was a day they were made to believe "would never happen"

Keith Duffy and daughter Mia at her graduation in DCU this week Picture: @officialkeithduffy

Keith Duffy has said he and his wife Lisa are the “proudest parents in the world” after his daughter Mia graduated from Dubin City University (DCU) this week.

The former Boyzone star, whose youngest daughter Mia was diagnosed with autism at 18 months, said it was a day they were made to believe "would never happen".

The 22 year old graduated with an Honours degree in Enterprise Computing.

Sharing the news on social media, Duffy said the day marked “the biggest milestone ever” and paid homage to his daughter Mia who he said has never taken no for an answer.

"To all who have followed our story for over 20 years, today marks the biggest milestone ever," he wrote.

Keith and Mia Duffy. 

"We are blessed for all your support and that Mia was given every opportunity to reach her full potential only by never taking ‘No’ for an answer from anyone along the way. 

"We are the proudest parents in the world. Mia herself has always pushed herself and worked hard to achieve her own goals and continues to do so."

The 48-year-old encouraged his followers to "take the positive from this."

"See believe and achieve! Yes you can, yes we can," he concluded. 

The singer has previously opened up about taking a sabbatical from his career to travel to a specialist autism centre in the US to learn how to home educate children on the autism spectrum through a form of education called ABA – applied behavioural analysis.

He also successfully lobbied the Irish Government to open a school that provided appropriate education an interventions for children with autism, which his daughter Mia went on to attend.

He also set up a charity, Irish Autism Action, for children with autism in Ireland and their families which raised over €8,000,000 during Keith’s time as the organisation’s patron.