Senator Maurice Hayes

Senator Maurice Hayes is Chairman of the Ireland Fund’s Advisory Committee, and Chairman of The National Forum on Europe. He was appointed a member of The Irish Senate by Taoiseach, and is Member of Seanad Eireann (Independent). Senator Hayes is a frequent contributor to, and reviewer for, various journals and newspapers, including Parliamentary Brief, Fortnight and the Irish Independent. Senator Hayes is a highly regarded author who has published three autobiographies.

From 1955 to 1973, Senator Hayes was town clerk in Downpatrick, and in 1969 was appointed the first Chairman of the Community Relations Commission. He is former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was assistant secretary to the power-sharing Executive in 1974, adviser to the Chairman of the Constitutional Convention in 1975, and Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services (NI). He was also formerly Northern Ireland Boundary Commissioner, Member of the Commission on Police Complaints, Member of Independent Commission Re-Policing (Patten); and Chairman, Acute Hospitals Review Group.

He has been actively involved with the BBC General Advisory Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Institute of Irish Studies and the University of Ulster. He is Governor of Linenhall Library Belfast, Senate Member of Queen’s University Belfast, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and a Member of the Research Ethical Committee, QUB Medical School. He is a Trustee, Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaiochta; Director, Independent News & Media plc; and Director, Regtel. He is also a former secretary of the County Down Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Senator Hayes was born in Killough, County Down in 1927. He was educated in Saint Patrick’s High School, Davenport, and Queen’s University Belfast, where he obtained a BA in English.