Limerick native to head up college

A LIMERICK native is returning home from London to take up a position as president of Mary Immaculate College.

Professor Michael A Hayes is vice-president and Professor of Catholic Pastoral Studies at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham. He has been in Britain since 1980.

A renowned academic in the field of theology and religious studies and also a qualified psychotherapist, he will succeed the outgoing president, Professor Peadar Cremin, whose term of office ends on August 31.

Prof Hayes said he was honoured to assume the position which he described as “a new and exciting challenge”.

He expressed his thanks for the confidence the trustees of the college had placed in him.

He said he looked forward to working with staff and students in the “great educational enterprise that Mary Immaculate College has been since its foundation in 1898”.