{"id":373413,"date":"2026-03-30T18:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373413\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T18:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:49:10","slug":"arnold-schwarzenegger-awarded-honorary-degree-at-ulster-university-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373413\/","title":{"rendered":"Arnold Schwarzenegger awarded honorary degree at Ulster University \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

He first came to Belfast<\/a> 60 years ago as a bodybuilding champion.<\/p>\n

On Monday, actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/a> (78) returned to the city to receive an honorary degree from Ulster University.<\/p>\n

Crowds were six deep at the entrance of the glass-fronted building in the city centre in advance of his noon arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more security here than there was for Prince William<\/a>,\u201d one staff member was overheard saying. <\/p>\n

Hasta La Vista Ulster signs were waved by some students, who went wild when the Austrian-born movie star greeted them.<\/p>\n

On the lift up to the fourth floor, a security guard had Terminator posters tucked under his arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan since 1984. These posters were on my livingroom wall, I took them out of the frame so hopefully he\u2019ll sign them for me,\u201d said Simon Aldworth.<\/p>\n

Before the conferment ceremony, a mash-up of Johann Strauss\u2019s The Blue Danube Waltz and The Terminator theme tune was performed by Irish traditional musicians.<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents watch the honorary graduation of Arnold Schwarzenegger at Ulster University Belfast. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

Dancers wearing dark sunglasses and dressed in black Terminator costumes did Riverdance-style performances on wooden boards.<\/p>\n

Students thronged the floors above the event to watch Schwarzenegger being awarded the doctorate in recognition of his contribution to public service, environmental advocacy and the arts.<\/p>\n

Addressing the packed audience, the 38th governor of California described the occasion as \u201cvery meaningful\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 60 years ago since I came to Belfast for the first time. I know the majority of you [students] weren\u2019t alive then but I have to tell you, this is an anniversary for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To cheers, he added: \u201cI said then, \u2018I\u2019ll be back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the crowd about a \u201cbreakthrough\u201d moment in Belfast when he was asked to speak publicly for the first time at the age of 19. He almost had a heart attack, he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here as a bodybuilding champion driving around at posing exhibitions and flexing my muscles and all this stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut after my posing was over, my idol, Reg Park \u2013 a Mr Universe three times who was in the Hercules film \u2013 called me to the microphone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never spoken in public and I had no English … he told me to say, \u2018I like Belfast\u2019 and there was a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened that day in Belfast was so important to me because every single time afterwards when I won a competition I went to the microphone.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach time I said more and more and more, and eventually they couldn\u2019t shut me up, I love talking so much in public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger said his seven-year stint as governor of California was \u201cabsolute heaven\u201d.<\/p>\n

His involvement in the Special Olympics during the 1970s (his former mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the movement) was a \u201cjoy\u201d because he \u201cgave something back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no financial gain, no career gain,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Brendan O\u2019Connor takes on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The result is captivatingOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Among the invited audience was Sandra Weir (81) from Mallusk, Co Antrim, who recalled the day Schwarzenegger lifted her and a colleague off the ground when they posed for a photograph during his first visit to Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was one of the Tele (Belfast Telegraph) girls working in advertising. We came outside and thought he was trying to chat us up,\u201d she said, giggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know he was a weightlifter and he just scooped us up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir\u2019s son, Harry, said the family had heard \u201cquite a lot about that photo over the years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n Connolly, a dancer from New Zealand who took part in the ceremony performance, said it was a \u201cbit strange\u201d to see someone like Schwarzenegger recognised by a university in Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cool to be involved in it. Now that I know the story of his connection to here, it makes sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Before the actor left the event \u2013 he went out afterwards to meet Weir for the first time since their photograph \u2013 he joked about his age and ailments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m almost 79 years old. Forty years ago I said \u2018I\u2019ll be back\u2019. Now I say \u2018aww, my back\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He first came to Belfast 60 years ago as a bodybuilding champion. On Monday, actor and former governor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[7172,321,93,61,60,96724],"class_list":{"0":"post-373413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-arnold-schwarzenegger","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-ulster-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}