The Cranberries and Marian Keyes to receive honorary doctorates from University of Limerick

As part of the first Winter Conferring Ceremony at the University of Limerick, a number of individuals will be awarded honourary doctorates for their exceptional achievements and services to national and international culture and society. This month, rock band the Cranberries, political activist Bob Geldof and author Marian Keyes will be the first recipients of the doctorates.

The first ceremony will take place on the January 14, and will see Geldof and Keyes receive their doctorates.

Related: Fans are remembering Dolores O’Riordan
at her best on her birthday

Bob Geldof, frontman of band Boomtown Rats and political activist, became internationally famous for his role in anti-poverty activism; including the organisation of benefit concerts Live Aid (1985) and Live 8 (2005); co-founding the pop supergroup Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia with their song Do They Know It’s Christmas?.  He also served as an adviser to the ONE Campaign and as a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP).

Geldof had previously been awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin for his famine relief work in 2017, and also received the Man of Peace award at the annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome in 2005.

Marian Keyes via Twitter

Marian Keyes is a well-known writer, and is best known for her contribution to women’s literature. She is regarded as a pioneer of the ‘chick-lit’ genre. Her novels deal with issues such as alcoholism, depression, addiction, bereavement and domestic violence, always with a female heroine at the centre. Keyes is also a mental health activist and has spoken openly about her own struggles with mental health issues. She was also a vocal supporter of the Repeal movement. Her latest novel The Break was published in 2017.

Another ceremony will take place on the 18th of January, this time awarding honourary doctorates to the members of iconic Irish rock band and Limerick natives the Cranberries. Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, and Fergal Lawlor will receive their doctorates. Meanwhile, a posthumous doctorate will be awarded to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan, who passed away in January 2018.

The ceremony will take place three days after the one-year anniversary of her death.