The 12 newly elected members of the Royal Irish Academy come from places as diverse as Sri Lanka, Cork and Calcutta, reflecting, in the words of the RIA, "multicultural Ireland".
The new members, elected on Saturday, are: Ms Mary Clayton (UCD); Mr Peter Coxon (TCD); Mr Patrick Honohan (World Bank); Mr Amilra de Silva (QUB); Mr George Irwin (QUB); Mr Dermot Keogh (UCC); Ms Elizabeth Meehan (QUB); Ms Mary Pollard (ex TCD); Mr Bertus Rima (QUB); Mr Ian Robinson (TCD); Mr Siddharta Sen (TCD); and Mr Sean Strain (University of Ulster).
Election to the RIA is regarded as a mark of high academic achievement and distinction. The new members join 299 others drawn from the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Since the academy's foundation in 1785, new members have been elected every year on March 16th.
Ms Clayton, from Cork, is professor of Old and Middle English at UCD. Internationally distinguished for her work on Old English religious literature, her most recent work is The Apocryphal Gospels of Mary in Anglo-Saxon England.
Mr Coxon, associate professor at the department of geography in TCD, has gained an international reputation for his research on the last few million years of Earth's history, focusing on the evolution and climate of the Ice Age.
Mr de Silva, from Sri Lanka, is professor of organic chemistry at QUB. He has been a pioneer in establishing one of the two main design principles of fluorescent sensors.
Ms Meehan, from Scotland, is professor and director of the Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research at QUB. She is one of the leading authorities in these islands on the politics of citizenship.
Mr Honohan, from Dublin, is lead economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank.
Mr Irwin is professor of control engineering in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Queen's University Belfast. He is distinguished for his research in on-linear and parallel control.
Mr Keogh is professor of history and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration Studies at University College, Cork. He has made a major contribution to the history and historiography of 20th century Ireland.
Ms Pollard is the former keeper of early printed books at TCD library. An international authority on the history of Irish printing, her Dictionary of the Dublin Print Trade was published in 2000.
Mr Rima, from Holland, is professor of molecular biology at QUB. He is renowned for his research on such paramyxoviruses as mumps and measles.
Mr Robinson, associate professor in the department of medieval history at TCD, is an internationally recognised expert on papal-imperial conflict in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Mr Sen, from Calcutta, is Fellow Emeritus of TCD and internationally known for his work on the application of modern mathematical methods to physics.
Mr Strain is professor of human nutrition at the University of Ulster. He is co-editor of the award-winning Encyclopedia Of Human Nutrition.