Irish President discusses her two "Eureka!' moments" while a student in Leeds

The Irish President spoke of the two “Eureka moments” she had while a resident in Leeds during a visit back to the city she once called home.

Catherine Connolly was in Leeds today (Wednesday) for the first time since she graduated from the University of Leeds in 1981 with a Masters in Clinical Psychology. It is part of her first UK state visit since being inaugurated in November last year.

She spoke about her years living in Headingley and Armley as she met staff and students while being shown around the Parkinson Building before being taken to The Leeds Irish Centre, where she gave a speech.

She was welcomed to the university by Alastair Da Costa CBE, Chair of the University’s Council, its governing body, and Professor Kenneth McDowall, Interim Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Student Education and Experience.

She also spoke to students Freya McCaughley and Roseanna O’Hanlon, who run the university’s Irish Dance Society, and Leeds University Sport Lead Matty Walsh, during which Mrs Connolly reflected on her time in West Yorkshire.

Though she went on to run marathons and triathlons, Mrs Connolly said that she was a smoker and not much into fitness when she first arrived in Leeds, adding that she had a “Eureka moment” when she decided to take up running.

She added: “My second Eureka moment was giving up cigars and to start training. I did my first run around Headingley park and I couldn’t run a mile. And I said ‘that’s it’ and stopped and went on to do marathons.”

Mrs Connolly said that she lived in Armley in her first year in a shared house before moving to Headingley, which is when she started to “give up the bad habits”.

Matty told her that a group of students were in the process of setting up a Gaelic football team alongside students from Leeds Beckett, while Freya and Roseanna told her about the Irish Dance society’s growing popularity.

‘Genuinely incredible’

Speaking after, Matty, who is of Irish descent, said it was an “honour and a pleasure” to meet Mrs Connolly. He said: “It was genuinely incredible. I tried to calm myself down a little bit as the president walked over. But thinking back to my grandparents and great grandparents especially they would be so proud to see me stood in the great hall shaking hands with the president.”

Roseanna added that it was “really special”, before Freya said: “It was really important to me because I’m really proud to be Irish so meeting her today was just amazing.”

During the visit to the University, Mrs Connolly also viewed items from the University Library’s Cultural Collections, including a rare first edition of Dracula and a letter by its Irish author Bram Stoker; a copy of Seamus Heaney’s ‘Station Island’ with the poet’s own handwritten revisions, and some Bronte manuscripts - the famous writers' father was born in County Down.

The President’s full itinerary included a meeting with King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Monday and a reception hosted by the Irish ambassador to Britain Martin Fraser, who also visited the University on Wednesday.

Her engagements emphasised a commitment made during her inauguration, when she spoke about engaging with the Irish diaspora.

While in London she visited the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith and the London Irish Centre in Camden, and her three-day trip concluded with a trip to the Leeds Irish Centre.

Mrs Connolly said: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to conclude my first Official Visit to Great Britain as President of Ireland in Leeds.

“The links between Ireland and the north of England are incredibly strong and generations of Irish people have made Leeds and other cities across the region their home.

“I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity to return to the University of Leeds, where I studied in the early 1980s, and to see that the University remains at the very heart of the development of both the city and broader West Yorkshire region."