Professor Frances Ruane
If elected, Professor Frances Ruane would become the first female provost of TCD. A graduate of UCD, Ruane has lectured in TCD's economics department since 1977. She spent five of her TCD years as college bursar. In her manifesto, she promises to work for "an inclusive, person-centred community" within the college. Regarded as the only serious candidate from the arts and humanities, she is, it's believed, well placed to pick up votes in later rounds. Her supporters say she thinks strategically on policy issues and speaks the language of policy makers and civil servants.
Professor John Hegarty
TCD's professor of laser physics, Dr John Hegarty, is a graduate of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, and NUI Galway. A leading-edge research scientist in the US, he was headhunted by Trinity in 1986. As dean of research, he has revamped the college's research policy. "He's very popular," comments a source. "Almost every scholar in Trinity has got research money thanks to him." According to Hegarty, all future TCD development must be driven by sound academic principles. Supporters say he will be tough with government and is well able to fight TCD's corner.
Professor David McConnell
The high profile professor of genetics, Dr David McConnell, is running a low-key campaign, according to sources. A TCD graduate, with a PhD from the California Institute of Technology, he was appointed lecturer in genetics in 1970. A Dublin Protestant, McConnell, who is a former registrar and current vice-provost, is regarded as representing "old Trinity values". Trinity, he says, "prizes individuality, imagination, creativity and independence of mind". Supporters particularly admire his adherence to democratic values.
Professor Patrick O'Meara
The professor of Russian, Dr Patrick O'Meara, stepped into the breach when Professor Davis Coakley withdrew, citing ill-health. A graduate of Keele and Oxford universities, O'Meara was first appointed to TCD in 1974. O'Meara has adopted Coakley's manifesto Putting People First. The former senior lecturer's vision of Trinity is "a place which puts people first and nourishes individual endeavour in a climate at once stimulating and responsive". In terms of the current race, O'Meara is regarded as very much the outsider.
Dr Micheal Mac An Airchinnigh
Co Down-born Dr Micheal Mac An Airchinnigh is the most personally popular and colourful of the candidates. He is also the only candidate not to have held high office in the college. A former Christian Brother and teacher at primary and second levels, Mac An Airchinnigh is a graduate of London University. Now a senior lecturer in computer science, he is described as "a wonderful character" who is perhaps not taken seriously as a future provost. He is, though, described as "a diligent and serious academic, widely read, who wears a gown and carries a silver-topped cane".
