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Maurice Hayes

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Maurice Hayes
Senator
In office
September 1997 – July 2007
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born(1927-07-08)8 July 1927
Killough,County Down,Northern Ireland
Died23 December 2017(2017-12-23)(aged 90)
Downpatrick,County Down, Northern Ireland
Political partyIndependent
SpouseJohanna
Children5
Alma materQueen's University Belfast
Profession

Maurice Hayes(8 July 1927 – 23 December 2017) was anIrishpublic servant and, late in life, an independent member of the 21st and 22ndSeanads.[1]Hayes wasnominated by the Taoiseach,Bertie Ahern,in 1997 and re-nominated in 2002. He also served, at the Taoiseach's request, as Chairman of the National Forum on Europe in the Republic of Ireland.

Hayes was voted European Person of the Year in 2003.[1]

Early life[edit]

Hayes was born inKillough[2]County Down,Northern Ireland,in 1927.[3]He completed a PhD in English at theQueen's University Belfast,then taught atSt Patrick's Grammar SchoolinDownpatrick.[4]He left teaching to become town clerk of Downpatrick the then administrative centre of County Down, succeeding his father in the role.[5]

Public service career[edit]

In the troubled politics ofNorthern Ireland,where political parties tend to be sharply split along pseudo-ethno-nationalistic lines, Hayes was viewed as an even-handed observer.[6]He wrote or contributed to major policy reports, such as thePatten Commissiondealing with reforms to theRoyal Ulster Constabulary(RUC), the police force later renamed thePolice Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI).[7]

Writing[edit]

Hayes also wrote numerous pieces of journalism, notably, and regularly, for theIrish Independent.[7]He was the author of three books of memoirs,Sweet Killough: Let Go Your Anchor;[2]Black Puddings with Slim: A Downpatrick Boyhood;[8]andMinority Verdict: Experiences Of A Catholic Civil Servant,[9]as well as author or editor of works on conflict research, community relations and Irish writing.[5]

Memberships[edit]

Hayes was a formerNorthern Ireland Ombudsmanand Boundary Commissioner, and was Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services.[4]He was a former chairman of the Community Relations Council and the Acute Hospitals Review Group.[7]

He was chairman ofThe Ireland Fundsin the Republic of Ireland, a branch of a major charitable group with worldwide contributors, which has made significant grants to groups dealing with social and business problems.[10]

Hayes was also a long-serving non-executive director of Independent News & Media Plc, retiring in 2009 towards the culmination of a long running battle for control of the group between the O'Reilly family and Denis O'Brien led to a re-structuring of the Board.[10]

Hayes wasnominated by the Taoiseach,Bertie Ahern,in 1997 and re-nominated in 2002.[4]

He also served, at the Taoiseach's request, as Chairman of the National Forum on Europe in the Republic of Ireland.[11]The approach he devised to educate the population on the arguments over European issues was so successful that many other European countries adopted similar methods.[10]

In later life, Hayes was a member of theRoyal Irish Academyand the Research Ethical Committee ofQueen's University Belfastmedical school, and a governor of theLinenhall Library,Belfast.[10][12][6]He was a long-serving member of the Scholarship Board of theO'Reilly Foundation.[3]He was also a board member atRegtel.[5]

Hayes was asked byMary Harney,when she was the Minister for Health in the Republic of Ireland, and theHSEto conduct a review into a scandal in the radiology department atTallaght Hospitalon the outskirts of Dublin.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Hayes was a countyhurler,who in the mid-1950s became County Secretary of the DownGaelic Athletic Association(GAA) and set a ten-year plan forthe county football teamto become the first fromNorthern Irelandto win anAll-Ireland football final.[11]Within five years, Down had won their first All-Ireland trophy in 1960.[1]They followed it with further successes in 1961, 1968, 1991 and 1994.[11]No other Northern team won an All-Ireland title untilDerrywon the football title in 1993.[6]

Hayes died inDowne Hospitalafter a long illness on 23 December 2017 at the age of 90.[3][5]

Awards[edit]

Hayes was voted European Person of the Year in 2003.[1]

He also received honorary doctorates from his alma mater; from bothQueen's University BelfastandUniversity of Ulsterin the UK, as well asTrinity College, University of DublinandNational University of Irelandin the Republic of Ireland.[1][7]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcde"Maurice Hayes".Oireachtas Members Database.Retrieved26 May2010.
  2. ^abHayes, Maurice (1994).Sweet Killough let go your anchor.Belfast: Blackstaff Press.ISBN0856405280.
  3. ^abc"Former NI Ombudsman Maurice Hayes dies".BBC News.23 December 2017.Retrieved23 December2017.
  4. ^abc"Tributes paid as former senator Maurice Hayes dies aged 90".The Irish Times.23 December 2017.Retrieved23 December2017.
  5. ^abcd"Down GAA legend and former senator Maurice Hayes dies aged 90".RTE. 23 December 2017.Retrieved23 December2017.
  6. ^abc"Former senior civil servant and GAA figure Dr Maurice Hayes dies age 90".Belfast Telegraph.Independent News & Media. 23 December 2017.Retrieved23 December2017.
  7. ^abcd"An 'outstanding individual' - the late Dr Maurice Hayes".BBC News. 24 December 2017.Retrieved24 December2017.
  8. ^Hayes, Maurice (1996).Black puddings with slim: a Downpatrick boyhood.Belfast: Blackstaff Press.ISBN0856405906.
  9. ^Hayes, Maurice (1995).Minority verdict: experiences of a Catholic public servant.Belfast: Blackstaff Press.ISBN0856405485.
  10. ^abcd"Maurice Hayes, the best of the best".Slugger O'Toole. 24 December 2017.Retrieved24 December2017.
  11. ^abcd"Tributes paid after Maurice Hayes passes away, aged 90".Independent.ie. 24 December 2017.Retrieved24 December2017.
  12. ^"Maurice N. Hayes".Royal Irish Academy.19 October 2015.Retrieved27 November2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Hayes&oldid=1156761081"