Dr. Maurice Hayes
Former Chairman of The Ireland Funds in Ireland

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Dr. Maurice Hayes, former Chairman of The Ireland Funds in Ireland is retiring after invaluable service to the organization. Dr. Hayes was born in Co. Down. He is a former Northern Ireland Ombudsman and Boundary Commissioner. He served as a member of the Patton Commission on Policing and the Irish Senate and is Chairman of the National Forum on Europe. He was elected European Person of the Year in 2003.

Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chairman of The American Ireland Fund shares her thanks and thoughts

Maurice Hayes’ work with The Ireland Funds for thirty years has been magnificent in assuring not a dime or a dollar raised ever went to the forces of violence. However, this pales in comparison with the steady moral compass Maurice provided for the people of Northern Ireland. Regardless of the secular-political ethos of a community, the people respected Maurice and listened to him. Through his long career he has quietly and relentlessly worked to bring the two traditions in Northern Ireland together. He forged connections between Unionists and Nationalists at a grass roots level which helped prepare the ground for the success of the Peace Process. Here in the United States he consistently reminded Irish Americans that the only way out of The Troubles was through dialogue, acceptance and mutual understanding.

On a personal note, Maurice and Joan have been good and generous friends to Lew and me. Lew and Maurice shared a passion for books and they had the most erudite and discerning book exchange, which Lew treasured.

"I am deeply grateful to Maurice Hayes for many things: the enduring legacy of excellence and inclusion he has established for The Ireland Funds; his rigorous insistence of fairness; and, always, the sheer pleasure of his company."
— Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chairman, The American Ireland Fund