AS further prominent Irish holders of dodgy degrees are outed, the time has come for Education Minister Mary Hanafin to launch an in-depth probe into the realm of questionable qualifications which offer the purchasers academic kudos overnight.

A SENIOR UCD academic and a lecturer in the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) both obtained PhDs from the same unaccredited institution as disgraced Government science adviser Barry McSweeney.

A SENIOR editor once said to me: “Do you know, I have no qualifications?” I have all the degrees I could get in my field, but only a person who does not have them thinks they are so important.

Barry McSweeney is a very able performer. The Irish Examiner has never questioned his ability, but it has questioned the manner in which he was initially appointed as the Government’s chief science adviser without the job ever being advertised.

BY dropping his two-letter title and moving the embattled chief science adviser swiftly sideways last night, the Government attempted to dodge mounting criticism over his dubious academic credentials.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin’s announcement on behalf of the Government raises even more questions than it answers.

The Government is transferring its Chief Science Advisor to a new position in light of a controversy that he obtained a bogus degree from an online US university.

EMBATTLED Government chief science adviser Dr Barry McSweeney is continuing to resist calls for his resignation in advance of another meeting with Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin this week.

GOVERNMENT chief scientific adviser Dr Barry McSweeney is under intense pressure to step aside this weekend as controversy surrounding a dubious PhD he received in the US continues.

CONTINUED controversy over the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Dr Barry McSweeney, will be an embarrassing setback for the entire scientific community, one of Ireland’s most respected academics has said.

ACADEMICS on both sides of the Atlantic are now openly calling for the resignation of Government chief science advisor Dr Barry McSweeney, who is embroiled in continuing controversy over the origins of a doctorate he received in America.

GOVERNMENT chief science advisor Dr Barry McSweeney will this week face further questions over a dubious PhD he received from a discredited university in the US.

Fresh questions have been raised as a result of a probe by the Department of Enterprise into the status of the American doctoral degree obtained by the Government’s Chief Science Adviser, Dr Barry McSweeney.

A SENIOR US academic and an FBI consultant have separately rubbished claims by the Government’s chief science adviser that a renowned US degree mill was legitimate when he received a PhD there.

WITH his €120,000-a-year job on the line, pressure is mounting on the Government’s chief scientific adviser to publicly explain a dubious PhD he received in America.

A DEPARTMENT of Enterprise probe has raised fresh questions about the status of a PhD received in America by the Government’s top scientific adviser.