Past Student Dr. Michael Geary Visits
Michael, a native of Milford was a student at Hazelwood College (formerly Community College) between 1993 and 1999. At Hazelwood he was the captain of the school’s debating team which made the county Limerick VEC final two years in succession. He is also a past winner of the Transition Year Student of the Year (1997) and was the school’s overall Student of the Year in 1999. After he graduated from Hazelwood College, he embarked upon undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Ireland and abroad. He is a First Class Honours graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he completed his B.A. in History, English and Biology (1999-2002) and a two year M. Litt degree by research (2002-2004). His M.Litt thesis examined Ireland’s repeated attempts at membership of the EEC during the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
In August 2005, Michael won a four year scholarship to the prestigious European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. In 2006,he was awarded a second Masters, a Masters of Research (M.Res.) degree and in February 2009 he successfully defended and was awarded his Ph.D. His research at the EUI explored the role of the European Commission during the enlargement of the EEC (1957-1973) and in particular the Commission’s relations with two applicant countries for membership of the Common Market, namely Britain and Ireland.
Between February and June 2009, Michael worked at the General Secretariat of the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels where he worked on aspects of the Community’s enlargement policy; Spokesperson for the Council’s trainees and shared in questions and answers sessions with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In September 2009, Michael was appointed Lecturer / Assistant Professor in History of European Integration at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
His M. Litt degree was recently published as a book entitled An Inconvenient Wait: Ireland’s Quest for Membership of the EEC 1957-1973. Michael Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs launched the book in Dublin on 2nd September stating that it was “a must read” for secondary and third level students and anyone with an interest in Ireland’s recent political and economic history. In the first review of the book of the in the national newspapers the Sunday Business Post calls the book “Extremely Informative”
It was with great pride and delight that the management and staff at Hazelwood College greeted Dr Michael Geary, a past pupil, on Friday last. Michael took the time to visit the history students in the school and addressed them in an interesting and informative manner. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Michael on his tremendous achievements and wish him every success in his future career!
Photo: Mr Brendan Burke and Dr Michael Geary with some 5th Year History students. Dr Geary presented a copy of his book to schol library.
