College takes a shine to Sheen

AN Irish university said yesterday it would be happy to accept Hollywood actor Martin Sheen as a student after he revealed plans to study in Ireland.

Sheen said that after he retires from the fictional White House in the long-running television series West Wing, he would be keen to study in the west of Ireland.

A spokeswoman for National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, said: “Obviously we would be quite happy to accommodate him.”

The Apocalypse Now actor, whose mother emigrated from Ireland, has admitted that despite international stardom he wants to go back to school.

“I never got my high school diploma and have always felt a need to address that,” he said.

“I’ll be 65 this summer and have received a number of degrees, but no proper education since I started acting,” said the actor, who plays President Josiah Bartlet.

“My plan is to read English literature, philosophy and theology in Galway, where my late mother came from.”

The spokeswoman for NUI Galway said: “We do have the Huston School of film and digital media, of which Anjelica Huston is a patron. It was called after John Huston.

“That would be a Hollywood connection. Obviously, he would be most welcome.”

Sheen, an outspoken peace activist, has led several demonstrations against the war on Iraq.