Twenty new members were elected to the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in Dublin yesterday in recognition of their achievements in the sciences, humanities and social sciences.
This brings to 322 the membership of the all-Ireland academic body.
Announcing the election, Dr Michael Ryan, president of the RIA, said they had raised "the benchmark of excellence" in their respective fields internationally.
The scientists elected are: Prof Derek Boyd (Queen's University Belfast); Dr Roger Downer (University of Limerick); Prof Michael Hayes (University of Limerick); Prof Celia Holland (Trinity College Dublin); Prof Eugene Kennedy (Dublin City University); Prof Michael Peter Kennedy (University College Cork); Prof Marshall McCabe (University of Ulster); Prof Luke O'Neill (TCD); Prof Gerry O'Sullivan (University College Dublin); and Prof Ian Robertson (TCD).
Those elected from the humanities and social sciences are: Prof Paul Bew (Queen's University Belfast); Dr Angela Bourke (University College Dublin); Prof John D. Brewer (Queen's University Belfast); Prof Denis Conniffe (formerly of the ESRI and now of NUI Maynooth); Prof Gabriel Cooney (University College Dublin); Prof Donald Cruickshank (University College Dublin); Dr Alan Fletcher (University College Dublin); Prof Fergus Kelly (Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies); Prof Brian McGing (Trinity College Dublin); and Prof Sean Ó Coileáin (University College Cork).