Graham to receive honorary doctorate

The hallowed halls of University College Cork will enjoy an ‘oh so Graham Norton’ day next week when the broadcaster joins other well- known faces to be honoured by his alma mater.

Norton is one of four to be conferred with honorary doctorates on Friday, Jun 7. Others include Irish writer and BBC broadcaster, Fergal Keane, Cork businessman Dermot O’Mahoney, and Irish/American US district court Judge Donald W Molloy.

Norton, a six-time Bafta Award winner, was born in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, and grew up in Bandon, Co Cork. He studied English and French at UCC.

Best known for hosting The Graham Norton Show, he returns to UCC to receive a Degree of Doctor of Arts.

Keane is a writer and broadcaster who received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth for services to journalism.

Having grown up in Dublin and Cork, he has won numerous awards, including a Bafta, for his coverage of plights around the world. He was named Royal Television Society Journalist of the Year, Sony Radio Journalist of the Year, and received Amnesty International awards. He will receive a Degree of Doctor of Literature.

Dermot O’Mahoney has been active in the Irish business, educational, and voluntary sector for over 50 years. His educational activities include work with the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and acting chairman of the Hope Foundation which works with the street children of Calcutta.

He has been a long-standing member of the governing body of UCC and served on the Senate of the National University of Ireland for 10 years to 2012. He will receive a Degree of Doctor of Laws.

Judge Donald Molloy has been a leading reformer in judicial practice in Montana. He presided over the largest criminal environmental case prosecuted in the US — United States vs WR Grace.

He studied Irish under Corkman Traolach Ó Riordáin, who heads the Irish Studies programme at the University of Montana. He will receive a Degree of Doctor of Laws.