UCD President's Award: 25th Anniversary

Excellence in Student Activities

CONTRIBUTORS

Rhona Fogarty

Ciarán Ahern

Ashar Ali Bari

Malcolm Byrne

David Carrigy

James Carroll

Michael Cawley

Declan Clear

Martin Conway

Rob Corbet

Jill Corish

Mary Dobbs

Rossa Fanning

Devin Finneran

Patrick Fitzgerald

Zoe Forde

Darragh Gaffney

Sinéad Gaughan

Robert Henson

Sinéad Ingoldsby

Frank Kennedy

Fiona Kenny

Elaine Lavery

Seán Mac Dhonnagáin

Edward Mackle

Colm Maguire

Jason Masterson

David Matthews

Damien McDonald

Aoife McEvoy

Killian McKenna

Michelle McLoughlin

Lorraine Muckian

Mark Murphy

Aoife Nic Shamhráin

Breandán Ó hAnnaidh

Darren O’Beirne

Gearóid O’Connor

Gillian O’Halloran

Gregg O’Neill

Mark O’Toole

Daisy Onubogu

Michael Power

Gavan Reilly

Dheeraj Singh Rathore

Justin Sinnott

Stephen Tennant-Humphreys

Laura Toogood

John Travers

Special thanks to Sarah McKenna Dunne & UCD DrawSoc for providing the illustrations included in this booklet

INTRODUCTION

RHONA FOGARTY

Award Year: 1994

Course: Cell Biology, Molecular Genetics

Activities: RocSoc (Geological Society); Executive Committee, Student Consultative Forum; Students’ Union

Occupation: Human!

IT was at Roonagh Quay, crouched behind a boulder, sheltering from horizontal rain and bitter wind that my budding career as a geologist came to an end. March 1992, Louisburg, County Mayo: second-year Geology students were deported, as was tradition, to the ‘wild west’ to learn how to discern one’s sediments from one’s igneous intrusions. The sudden euphoria of finding a previous deportee’s benevolent carving of “This is Pebbly Arkose” into a rock with a geological hammer bordered on ecstatic fervour. Or fever. I had bronchitis by day three. It was either that trip which dampened my enthusiasm or the realization that I couldn’t read geological maps.

But, it didn’t put me off running the “RocSoc” (UCD Geological Society) during my third year in College. The Geology Department was a fabulous place full of bright, friendly people - lecturers, technicians, postgrads, and students alike - in a happy learning environment, venturing on field trips around the country, often spending Friday evenings holed up in the Montrose Hotel socializing or recovering from said field-trips.

Being an auditor of a student society granted one access to the Student Consultative Forum, a meeting facility for the captains of various clubs in the College, much lauded for its cutting-edge facilities of a fax machine and free tea and coffee.

Being in UCD was a joy. I studied Science and met many wonderful people from all walks of life. I made great friendships, learned new subjects, socialized, joined college clubs, got involved with various initiatives, and received the President’s Award due to the kind nomination by a friend who felt my efforts worth acknowledging. My studies enabled me to get my first job shortly after graduation, in a research company in Switzerland where I could add ‘not speaking Swiss German’ to my repertoire of ‘not studying Geology’ and ‘not reading maps’.

UCD gave me the privilege of a good education, a wide circle of friends, and happy memories - such as the Great Snowball Fight of 1991: Science v Engineering in an epic battle; Science faculty-days, social and cultural events. There was no such thing as a student with a car, nor a laptop computer, and the Internet was still in nappies.

I have fond memories of UCD in the 1990s and am stunned at its development since, with modern buildings and car parks for STUDENTS?! It may be ‘progress’ but it deprives present-day scholars of the authentic experience of lurching up the long driveway from the Clonskeagh Road against a force-9 gale in lashing rain, staggering under the weight of overdue library books. A great loss to their educational and meteorological exposure.

And my degree? Cell biology. Microscopes being found in much cosier environments than rocks…

CIARÁN AHERN

Award Year: 2007

Course: Business & Legal Studies

Activities: Law Society; Dramsoc; Law / B&L Day Committee; Business & Law Society

Occupation: Employment Law

Solicitor, A&L Goodbody

IN many ways I was a much more serious student when I started in UCD than when I finished. Well-trained and disciplined following a gruelling Leaving Certificate year, I kept my head down for my first year of Business and Legal Studies, bringing me good grades and an intimate familiarity with the late night staff in the Library, but perhaps a sense that I was missing out on something more. So, gradually my head was turned to the bright lights and big egos of UCD societies, firstly as a participant in the James Joyce Maiden Speakers’ Competition, where I got a taste for the good life.

After that, my descent into the seedy, politicking world of debating societies gained pace as I served as Records Secretary for the Law Society and Debates Convenor for both the Law and B&L Societies. I then served as Chairman of the annual Law / B&L Day fundraiser, raising a record €27,000 for Temple Street Children’s Hospital and somehow found myself mixed up with the artsy Dramsoc – set-writing, directing, producing, and attempting to act. My conversion to full-blown society hack ultimately culminated in my glorious and uncontested election as Auditor of the Law Society. Suddenly, my study time had disappeared!

At least that’s how I’ve justified my mediocre final grades in subsequent job applications. Happily, nothing gives that excuse more credibility than the UCD President’s Award, which still sits proudly in my parents’ front room and atop my CV.

ASHAR ALI BARI

Award Year: 1995

Course: Economics & Statistics

Activites: Islamic Society; Student Consultative Forum

CREATING and maintaining a perfect work and social life balance at UCD epitomised the best years of my life. It made it easier to thrive both academically and socially. I feel that I was able to strike the right balance for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I felt connected to my fellow students and formed friendships that have stood the test of time. I knew many and was well known too.

I was honoured to be unanimously elected as the Auditor of the UCD Islamic Society for three years from 1992 to 1995 – a society close to my heart and a role that I took very seriously. UCD’s ethos of inclusivity and general support allowed the Islamic Society to blossom into a viable organisation responsible for informing students about the essence of Islam and dispelling any misconceptions. The Islamic Society also flourished because of the popular activities it hosted.

Occupation: Wealth Management

The unequivocal highlight was when Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) delivered a lecture, “Does the West Need Islam?” Over 600 people attended his talk in Theatre L, where he spoke about why he converted and the contribution Islam has made to civilisation. Yusuf Islam was an excellent orator. He had a gentle presence and really connected with the audience. I found his talk to be edifying. Needless to say, it created interest, was a resounding success, and featured in numerous publications.

I thoroughly enjoyed attending debates at UCD and have fond memories of the ‘Colours Debate’ between UCD and Trinity College. During my time in UCD, I distinctly recollect Dara O’Briain and Ryan Tubridy standing out as exceptionally astute, witty, eloquent, and persuasive speakers. The atmosphere in their debates was electric, the discussions thought provoking! They would crush their opponents with their intellectual prowess and convincing arguments. Clearly, they had great futures ahead of them!

Given the opportunity, I would do it all again. My time there is forever etched in my memory. It was a time for learning, self-awareness, and growth - a time for a sense of community and connection.

MALCOLM BYRNE

Award Year: 1996

Course: Law

Activities: Students’ Union Education Officer; various student societies

Occupation: Head of Communications, Higher Education Authority; Councillor, Gorey

IN the 1990s, when ‘social media’ implied doing the Irish Times crossword with friends in the canteen and where summers at home and away from Belfield saw me look forward to letters in the post from college friends rather than the ping of an email, UCD was a fun and exciting place. Ireland and the world were changing: Eastern Europe was escaping the shackles of communism; Irish society was opening up and there was a positive economic outlook; the peace process in the North was developing. All these big issues were discussed at LawSoc or L&H debates, in the Students’ Union, or in Hilpers’ or the old Student Bar. I remember it as a time of great optimism.

There was learning. Not just in the cold halls of Roebuck to which the Law Faculty had just decamped, but in getting to know people and to know myself.

I got to appreciate the importance of access to education, a belief that underpinned my campaign and year as Students’ Union Education Officer and that has influenced me since. (Although one of my earliest student campaigns was on ‘the tissue issue’ which was the (ultimately successful) campaign to introduce soft ply toilet tissue to replace the greaseproof paper that was on offer in the public conveniences of Roebuck!)

More than anything else, UCD provides for lasting friendships. I met some incredible people while I was there and am still in touch with so many of them. At times we may have taken the clubs, the societies, the Students’ Union for granted; but in growing those organisations, we also grew ourselves.

DAVID CARRIGY

Award Year: 1998

Course: History & Politics

Activities: Literary & Historical Society; Rugby Club

Occupation: Head of Development and International Relations, World Rugby

I WAS fortunate to have a very enjoyable three years studying in UCD. The broad range of activities available was mind-boggling at first. I got involved in student politics early on and was elected to the Students’ Union Council. I enjoyed the election more than being a councillor and decided that the life of active student politics was not for me.

During my time in the L&H I was lucky enough to be appointed Leinster Schools’ Convenor and also to speak in a number of Colours Debates. One particularly fond memory is winning an away Colours Debate when that other college in the centre of Dublin were foolish enough to ask a former L&H Auditor, Professor Anthony Clare, to chair the debate!!

I also became involved with the Rugby Club, holding a number of positions on the Committee and became 1st XV team manager - a position I held for eight seasons. My involvement with the Club continues today. It is an outstanding Club and one that I feel very privileged to continue to be involved with. Encountering people like Adrian Burke, Finbar Costello, Prof Peter Clarke, Prof Jim Kavanagh and of course the former Director of Sport, Dr Tony O’Neill, were life-enriching experiences. Coupled with all the extracurricular activities was the very interesting study of History and Politics with great lecturers such as Dr Maurice Manning and Prof Diarmaid Ferriter.

I recall feeling very honoured to be awarded the President’s Award by the then President, Dr Art Cosgrove. My view at the time was, and remains, that you get from something what you put into it. Those who choose to immerse themselves in College life whilst in UCD will be rewarded with an outstanding experience that will always serve them well in whatever the future holds.

JAMES CARROLL

Award Year: 2007

Course: Law

Activities: Students’ Union President & Education Officer; Kevin Barry Cumann; Law Society

Occupation: Governance Consultancy Business Manager, Melbourne, Australia

DAY One sitting in O’Reilly Hall with thousands of other first years, I remember looking up at the President of the Students’ Union addressing us thinking he must be a genius, tremendous public speaker, and charismatic beyond belief to be in that job - I realised when I became SU President 3 years later that you need none of these skills at all! I was lucky starting UCD – I was a New ERA (now part of the HEAR Scheme) recruit so we had an Orientation Week on campus before everyone else started (every time I hear Pink’s “Just Like A Pill” I get transported back to Belgrove, August 2002).

In first year Law, we had two lectures 9-11am on Monday and our next lecture was 9am on a Wednesday. I remember walking out of Week One 11am thinking “What the hell do I do now?” Organised secondary school schedule and structure this was not!

Wandering down to the Freshers’ Week tent set me on a whole new path, something I could never have imagined. Student politics dictated my time in UCD. The famed or dreaded KBC; those three letters alone used strike fear into the heart of some people (mostly lefties!). But to many of us, it was just the Fianna Fáil Kevin Barry Cumann, a place where we met some really great people and where we made friends.

I ran for Students’ Union Law Class Rep at the start of second year, was elected Education Officer at the end of second year, and then elected President at the end of my third year - as my father still says, “I sent him to Dublin for 3 years and it took him 5 years to get his Law degree!” Those 2 extra years took me on a wholly different trajectory that I wouldn’t otherwise have gotten on.

During Freshers’ Week, September 2005, former government Minister, Seamus Brennan, told me that he had been a former President of UCG Students’ Union and it was his toughest 12 months in politics. It was a formative period for me too! It was the first time in my life I had people who either disliked me, or even hated me, because of my political affiliation or views without ever having spoken to or met me.

Your degree is why you go to UCD but you leave with so many more memories for a lifetime, maybe even a future wife, and friends that endure forever.

“Your degree is why you go to UCD but you leave with so many more memories for a lifetime”

MICHAEL CAWLEY

Award Year: 2013

Course: Business & Law

Activity: Rugby Club

Occupation: Accountant

MY time in UCD bursts with memories that I’m grateful to have experienced, inside and outside of the lecture halls (admittedly, predominantly outside). In Business and Law I was lucky enough to encounter and befriend people from all over the country with different backgrounds and ambitions. These were the people that I’d enjoy a few beers with at a Belgrove party or leaned on when we needed to get a Tort Law essay in on time. Their friendship was important then for academic reasons (!), but invaluable now for lasting companionship.

Playing sport in the University was one of the best decisions I have ever made and exposed me to players, coaches, and administrators with an extraordinary commitment to developing sport and young people. The Rugby Club, through which I was nominated for the Award, is something I will always feel that I got much more out of than I could have ever given to. The opportunities afforded to me to play a sport I love, make great friends, and learn so much about life that cannot be learned in a tutorial. It’s the case that when you find an inclusive community such as that to be a member of, contributing to it feels like no chore at all.

So many other people and experiences played enormous roles in my University life and have influenced me beyond my knowing I’m sure. Belfield was a marvellous place to study, compete, and socialize. I’m grateful I spent my time there.

DECLAN CLEAR

Award Year: 2013

Course: Classics, History

Activities: Students’ Union; Arts Society; Classics Society; Relay for Life

Occupation: Centre Administrator for the Centre for Brain & Cognitive Development, Birkbeck University of London

THANK YOU, UCD

By far and away one of my proudest moments during my time in UCD was walking up the steps of O’Reilly Hall to receive the President’s Award. Eleven months previous to that, I had been elected to the position of Arts Convener of the Students’ Union.

The Arts Block staff, societies, and lecturers were more supportive than I ever could have imagined. I worked side-byside with the people I was almost afraid to talk to as a first year. Their help was instrumental with organizing events such as Arts Day, the Newman Games, and even Tea Days, where we passed out tea and coffee to stressed-out students. They brought a community spirit to the building that I never could have created alone.

One of the most rewarding aspects of that year was raising money for charities such as the Irish Cancer Society. I fondly remember running around the Newman Building in a giant panda suit, or the Relay for Life event dressed as a fairy in a tiny pink tutu with a collection bucket, asking for donations. While embarrassing at the time, it was incredibly rewarding working with a charity so close to my own heart. That year brought me into contact with people that I still can’t believe I’ve actually met. I debated members of the Dragon’s Den; I attended talks by President Michael D Higgins, Bill Clinton, and Martin Freeman; I got to hear 90-year-old Sir Christopher Lee advise us to never do our own stunts, as he limped off the stage in Theatre L to a huge eruption of laughter and applause.

When I think about the President’s Award, it’s not something that I just put on my CV for the credit. It’s a reminder of some of my best and fondest memories; a collection of experiences that just happened to lead up the steps of O’Reilly Hall.

MARTIN CONWAY

Award Year: 1995

Course: Economics & Politics

Activities: Action Society; AHEAD; Politics Society; Young Fine Gael; Students’ Union

Occupation: Senator

ROB CORBETT

Award Year: 1995

Course: Business & Legal Studies

Activities: Business & Legal Society; Law Society; Class Representative

Occupation: Solicitor & Partner, Arthur Cox

I WAS in 2nd year Arts when I was nominated for and received the President’s Award. It was a pivotal component in my future political career. I was the first recipient of this extremely prestigious Award who had vision impairment and this undoubtedly gave me the ambition that led to me being the first visually impaired member ever to be elected to the Oireachtas when I became a Senator in Leinster House in 2011.

UCD in the 1990s was a very energetic, dynamic, and highly ambitious environment where students were lifted to reach their potential by an atmosphere of encouragement, and gained in confidence with the real sense of community which fostered equality. I am now in my second term as a Senator and I have tried to bring this sense of belonging and value to my work on behalf of the people of Ireland.

The O’Reilly Hall

Its foundations but small

The sod turning event

We sought to prevent

A student protest

At B&L Soc’s behest

“Blackhall exemptions

With no exceptions”

Placards raised high

“John 3:16” in the sky

The President bemused

But our protesters excused

For we got our exemptions

For the protesters redemptions

While exams may have failed

“Student Activities” prevailed

So 20 years on

The protesters have gone

Can’t remember a lecture

Cause the protests were better!

JILL CORISH

Award Year: 1994

Course: Social Science, Development Studies, Library & Information Studies

Activities: St Vincent de Paul Society

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Dr Art Cosgrove invited us for a President’s Award! I have very happy memories of my time in Belfield studying Social Science from 1991 to 1994. There were about 120 of us in the class with the women outnumbering the men by about 10 to 1! Our lecturers from the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the time - including Ann Lavan, Helen Burke, Geoffrey Cooke and Des McCloskeygave us global views of social problems and their causes. Those lessons stayed with me when I was fortunate to return to UCD in 1995 and again in 2013.

Back in the 1990s, I was co-Auditor of the UCD St Vincent de Paul Society along with Michelle McLoughlin. Our activities included visits to residents at the Cheshire Home in Monkstown, St Mary’s Donnybrook, and prisoners in Mountjoy. One of the highlight activities was when we organised the SVP Intervarsity Conference at UCD and the excitement of welcoming Uachtarán na hÉireann Mary Robinson to open the conference.

Occupation: Librarian

I also thoroughly enjoyed the fun of being in the Belfield Folk Group with students from different faculties and the great support of the St Stephen’s Chaplains: Fr Seamus Connell, Fr Gerard Tyrrell, and Fr Kieran Fitzgerald.

I particularly remember waiting by the pay phones in the Library building in 1994 for the phone call that lead to my next volunteering adventure in Cameroon!

MARY DOBBS

Award Year: 2006

Course: Law

Activities: FLAC; French Society; Law Society; Literary & Historical Society; Philosophy Society; World University Debating Championships 2006; Hockey Club; University Observer; Peer Mentor

Whilst my studies in UCD were essential to my career and proved stimulating and worthwhile, it was the activities outside of the classroom that really made the experience special. As a lecturer now, I encourage students to participate fully in university life – whether in extra- or co-curricular activities, the experiences enable the development of a wide range of skills that will stand to them, just as they have for me. It also is a superb way to make friends who share similar interests.

With the variety of activities available in UCD, there is of course a temptation to try out everything there and then. I naively and enthusiastically joined 13 societies and clubs in Freshers’ Week in 1st year! Clearly too many to maintain, but I did end up heavily involved in a few of them, including the L&H, LawSoc, French Soc, and what was then FLAC. We organised regular debates, talks, night events, helped students with legal issues, put on plays in French, and much more. Along with many friends, I wrote for the Observer on occasion and we hosted the World Universities Debating Championships. Separately, a few of us also mentored students in the years below.

Occupation: Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast

A few of us were asked to write a brief note on our experiences in UCD, leading to a Facebook discussion reminiscing about times we shared in UCD. Times when the All Blacks gate-crashed the Strauss Ball, the 80’s Day with Face from the A-Team (both times!), JK Rowling read Harry Potter putting on the various voices, John Nash and Noam Chomsky discussed their research, the annual race around the Lake between those running for L&H auditor, and indeed when a friend rallied to the defence of a controversial guest speaker at a debate using his umbrella as a shield. Some cringing ensued, but still some great memories and some wonderful friendships.

ROSSA FANNING

Award Year: 1998

Course: Law

Activities: Law Society; Students’ Union Returning Officer

Occupation: Senior Counsel

I began life in UCD as a callow seventeen-year old BCL student in October 1993. Ours was a generation untouched by either the Celtic Tiger or technology. We had little money, wore unfashionable clothes, and socialised in town only to a very limited extent. As an undergraduate, Belfield was my universe.

My personal interest was debating. In the days before politicians and public figures could tweet, they had perhaps a greater interest in attending student debating societies to debate the issue of the day than is now the case. On occasion there seemed to be a vital significance to student debates on controversial political or moral issues. Even if not at that level every week, they at least offered the twin mitigating virtues of free drink and cheap entertainment.

I participated in Law Society and L&H debates extensively as a fresher. I joined the committee of the Law Society in my second year and was its Auditor the following year. I ultimately enjoyed some success in competitive debating, winning the Irish Times debate and reaching the semi-finals of the World Universities Debating Championships with Ian Walsh, who remains a close friend. In the latter part of my student career, whilst a postgraduate and tutor in the Law School I served for a couple of years as Students’ Union Returning Officer, a role which I enjoyed greatly.

At a remove of twenty years, one memory stands out, albeit for the quality of farce rather than significance. In October 1995, the Law Society held an ordinary meeting on the question of whether natural law was superior to the Constitution, an issue that the Supreme Court had been required to consider earlier that year in the context of an Article 26 reference on the Abortion Information Bill. Amongst the combatants was the late Mr Justice O’Hanlon, well known for his Catholic views on moral issues, who took the view that natural law prevailed, if necessary, over the terms of the written Constitution. In the course of explaining this position to the students, an initial trickle that quickly became a steady flow of inflated condoms began to descend upon the person of the speaker, released by two enterprising students who had clambered up the rafters and concealed themselves in the ceiling above the podium in Theatre M for this very purpose.

To be fair to Mr Justice O’Hanlon, whose moral views were profoundly unsympathetic to the deployment of condoms in any circumstances, he was not to be deterred and continued his address regardless, seemingly impervious to the audience of undergraduates rendered hysterical by this unexpected development, as did all the subsequent speakers, including Michael McDowell, who were required to wade through a sea of inflated condoms in order to reach the podium and address the Theatre on the topic.

The stunt was of course intended to satirise the traditionally Catholic views of a retired High Court Judge, but one now reflects, with some disappointment, that this was the most creative use that undergraduates of that era could consider putting several dozen condoms to.

DEVIN FINNERAN

Award Year: 2014

Course: Animal Science

Activities: Students’ Union; Commerce & Economics Society; Fashion Show

Occupation: Job seeker; Producer, UCD Fashion Show

2017

University College Dublin plays host to an astonishing hive of activity; no matter what your interest you will find your niche.

From being a Students’ Union Class Rep to being elected as Ag & Vet PRO, second year was a complete whirlwind but I became hooked on campus life and have never looked back. As an Agriculture student I saw the clear divide between our faculties and the Students’ Union. They could offer so much more than my peers could ever imagine and I wanted to be involved in attempting to close that gap. I coordinated teams composed solely of Ags and Vets to fundraise for cancer research, arranged Think Positive breakfast mornings with faculty societies and SU Class Reps to highlight the supports available, and represented students on various University boards.

In third year I came into my stride and had, without doubt, made the transformation into “one of those people”. As well as being Ag & Vet PRO, I was asked to be Secretary of the Commerce & Economics Society and Assistant Producer of the UCD Fashion Show. Although this combination of widely diverse projects stretched my attention span far past where my studies could ever compete I would never relive it any other way. Through my experiences that year I believed that my perspective, especially coming from a different faculty, would help the Commerce & Economics Society return to its former glory and I was elected Auditor for the 102nd Session.

Getting involved has given me back so much more than I could ever have expected. I have met some of my best friends, whom otherwise I would have never encountered, I’ve developed as a person, and also gained invaluable experience.

PATRICK FITZGERALD

Award Year: 2014

Course: Law & History

Activities: Student Legal Service; Law Society; St Vincent de Paul Society; Access Scheme

Occupation: Judicial Assistant to the Supreme Court of Ireland

Clubs and societies are the lifeblood of college life in UCD. Like so many who have attended University, my time was greatly enriched by my involvement in UCD student life.

While my experience volunteering on campus over my first 2 years encompassed everything from dawn Thursday morning poster-runs to late night SVP soup-runs, my appointment as Chair of the SLS in third year entailed a change in personal responsibility. I was now in charge of a committee and a society of over 150 volunteers, which was a great learning in how to lead and manage a team.

SLS, in relative UCD terms, is a small faculty society that promotes access to the law, primarily through the use of drop-in law clinics where any UCD student can seek assistance from the volunteers of the society. The classic landlord-tenant dispute provided a steady stream of work, but queries ranged from the mundane issue of LUAS fines to complex issues of copyright law. As a student I always got a particular kick out of using my legal skills to address the real life problems of a fellow student. We produced Ireland’s first Civic Guide to the Constitution, an important step in making the Constitution accessible to the broader community.

The bonds of friendship between previous committees remain strong and it is a source of pride to have played a part in a chapter in this Society’s ever unravelling story.

ZOE FORDE

Award Year: 2013

Course: Social Science, Social Policy

Activities: Please Talk

Occupation: Communications Officer

I became involved in mental health awareness campaigns following my own diagnosis with depression. I wanted to make sure other UCD students never felt as alone or scared as I did, so I joined the UCD Students’ Union Welfare Officer’s mental health campaigns before joining the Please Talk committee, who highlight the help available to students on campus. With Please Talk I held tea/coffee mornings in faculty buildings and on campus residences, outreach events, gave talks on mental health, and hosted the annual candlelight vigil to remember those who had lost their lives to suicide. At each of these occasions we highlighted the power of Please Talk’s simple message: Talking is a sign of strength.

The opportunities UCD gave me to raise awareness around mental health allowed me to give back to the community that had helped heal me during my own struggles.

DARRAGH GAFFNEY

Award Year: 2005

Course: Chemistry

Activities: Science Day; Class Representative; Volunteers Overseas

I was delighted at the time to receive the President’s Award and I’m sure it has definitely helped my career having it on my CV since, but the part of it that definitely meant the most at the time was the fact that the nomination for the Award came from a fellow student. And while I know my parents were very proud of the achievement, the photograph receiving the Award from Dr Hugh Brady definitely took pride of place on my Grandmother’s mantelpiece!

It was not until I started to put myself back in my 23 year old’s shoes and to remember all that happened during my time at UCD that I realised the significant impact those years, and in particular my final year, had and continue to have on my life. Academically, achieving my BSc put me on a career course that I love, but the core element that kept coming to the fore from those reflections was all about the people. The friendships and relationships that were formed and solidified during those years have had the greatest impact on my life. I met my wife and mother of our two children, Kim O’Reilly, in UCD in that final year. My best man at our wedding, who also played a big part in getting Kim and I together, Liam Doyle, was a friend I had met through being involved with Science Day. Fr Tony Coote, UCD Chaplain, married us.

Occupation: R&D Manager, Monaghan Biosciences

As the Chemistry class of 2005 we recently met up to mark 10 years since we graduated and at the moment I am organising to catch up with some friends that I met in the first week of 1st year! Everywhere I look, and it has taken this reflection to realise the connections back to my time at UCD stand out and those years in UCD have truly shaped my life!

SINÉAD GAUGHAN

Award Year: 2015

Course: Social Science, Social Policy, Information Studies

Activities: Students’ Union Disability Rights

Occupation: Master of Public Policy

Audio Descriptors, Radios and Mexicans…

When I think back on those three short years as an undergraduate student most definitely there is a personal feeling of inclusion in the extracurricular activities which make UCD such an exciting, interesting, and a humane place.

First year was getting to know my way around. Being a mid-forties mature student I guess reflected the growing diversity of our student community. Never one to shy away from a bit of work (or ageism) I offered myself for election to the voluntary role of UCD SU Disability Rights Co-ordinator in my second year. By then the bearings had been established and €4,000 of Newman funding had been personally secured for projects in regard to Disability. This included ‘Audio Descriptor’ equipment for people with vision impairment for the UCD Cinema, a UCD photo shoot for the IASE ‘Job Shadow Day’ national campaign, an animation workshop on the theme of disability, and a field trip to UCD from St Michael’s House Intellectual Disability Services. We attended the 2014 ‘Better Together’ awards, where UCD SU achieved a top 20 status nationally and an accreditation. However, the highlight of that time for me was being a recipient of the President’s Award.

Never one to be idle, in my third and final year the role of a broadcaster on UCD radio beckoned, with my own weekly one-hour show, ‘Social Issues with Sinéad’. The topics discussed included: Student Welfare, Accessibility and Disability, Housing and Homelessness, Lone Parents and Childcare, Employability and Education, Adoption and Fostering, The Environment, The Voluntary Sector, and Data/Archives/Information. I am indebted to all my guests, academic and otherwise, over that series and in gratitude to Belfield FM student radio for the opportunity. Then, in the final month of the degree, when I thought nothing else could surpass such fabulous UCD experiences, I was absolutely delighted and surprised to be awarded a travel scholarship. One of the three UCD delegates chosen to attend the Universitas 21 ‘Global Aging Populations’ conference in the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico 2016. Luckily we travelled together, which is very reassuring, considering that Mexico is half way around the world! The itinerary for the week was amazing with lots of excursions and networking as well as two days of undergraduate research presentations. I was also so excited seeing Mexico, its culture, food, music and people… And that says it all….

Through my time in UCD I have done such interesting things and met such lovely people. People from many backgrounds and each with their own wonderful story. I can only hope that any contributions during my time as a student, has helped to shape UCD into the lively, diverse, engaging, and inclusive community it is today.

ROBERT HENSON

Award Year: 2001

Course: Commerce, Accounting

Activities: Rugby Club

Occupation: Tax Partner, Mason Hayes & Curran; Chartered Accountant; Registered Tax Advisor

Going to UCD was hugely rewarding. It helped me grow as a person. I met a great number of friends from various backgrounds. The fun we had, the laughs we shared, and the Library at exam time are all memories that immediately come to mind.

Playing rugby for College was very special. At the time, with so many quality players and blokes involved, I look back with great pride at wearing the St Patrick’s Blue jersey. It was part of the reason that I got involved in helping with the administration of the Club when injury forced me to retire from the pitch. It was great to be able to give something back the Club and College and stay involved with the lads. I learned a huge amount as Club Secretary that has stood to me today. The late great Finbar Costello once said at a committee meeting “if you get what’s right on the pitch, everything else will follow”. I took from this that by looking at and striving to succeed at the bigger picture, little things will fall into place.

The President’s Award came as a real surprise and it was a great honour to have received it. I remember my time in UCD very fondly. It is true what they say: You do not appreciate what you have when you have it!

Ad Astra

SINÉAD INGOLDSBY

Award Year: 1998

Course: History & Politics

Activities: Literary & Historical Society; Strauss Ball; Students’ Club Management Committee; University Observer; An Cumann Gaelach; An Cumann Drámaíochta

Occupation: Television Producer & Director

Cigarettes and Alcohol

October 1994. To a sound track of Blur and Oasis I began my stretch in UCD. In an effort to make the Arts Block seem smaller I signed up for a load of societies. Granted many of them offered free wine, but my membership of these groups taught me more over the following four years than I ever learned in the Library.

I remember sitting petrified beside the Lake chain-smoking before I was due to make my maiden speech in front of the baying L&H mob in Theatre M. The speech was a disaster but I’ve never since felt the same panic standing up in front of a crowd. The divorce debate in 1995; the 1997 Presidential debate, attended by all of the candidates, including Mary McAleese and Dana; the Northern Ireland debate, where I first heard Martin McGuinness speak in his real voice. And of course the annual Colours spectacular when a few poor Trinity Christians were thrown to the lions..

Organising the Strauss (aka stress) Ball I learned not only to waltz but thanks to a particularly slippery hotel manager, I also discovered the importance of always putting verbal agreements in writing. I had my first, and last, foray into the world of politics when I ran for election to the Bar Committee. “A Pisshead Who Cares” was my campaign slogan and my top line policy was to keep down the price of a pint. Not the last to be elected by appealing to the base fears of the economically challenged masses. Though we did manage to keep the cost to £1.70 and standing at the door with the bouncers taught me much about how to manage people. I sometimes still hear that “Are you ‘right there now folks?” refrain in my sleep.

But my personal UCD headline was the University Observer. That tiny smoke filled office at the end of the Library tunnel became my second home, with its two old Macs, the manky couch, and a hole in the wall - punched during a particularly tetchy production weekend. Back then cut and paste was done with a ruler, a razor blade, and Prit-Stick. We looked up the phone book not the Internet. I’d never even heard of the Internet. Articles were handwritten on Dunkin Donut napkins and if you could type you were sent down to the LGs with a floppy disk and a fist full of foolscap. Contributors were paid in Fosters dollars and photos were developed by the chemist in the Merrion Centre. We’d stay up for nights on end in order to make the print deadline, fuelled by Red Bull and Marlborough Lights. There were tantrums and ill-fated love affairs and I still haven’t forgiven whoever nicked my Tom Petty CD. But nothing since has matched the buzz of the papers being snapped out of my hand in the Library tunnel.

Twenty years on and still the two proudest moments of my life are the day I graduated from UCD and that afternoon in 1998 when, surrounded by my friends and watched by my parents, Dr Art Cosgrove handed me my President’s Award.

FRANK KENNEDY

Award Year: 2007

Course: Law

Activities: Literary & Historical Society; Law Society

The year that I spent as Auditor of the L&H was one of the most enjoyable of my life. It was 2004/05, a special year for both the College and the Society because each celebrated its 150th anniversary.

We were fortunate to have so many people who had lived such interesting lives come to Dublin and talk with a group of students, either for a serious discussion, or just chat and banter.

I remember seeing George Galloway and the former Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont, unlikely allies, sit side by side as they railed against George W Bush’s campaign for re-election. Jeffrey Archer was happy to talk about daily life in prison, as well as how his prison diaries had, apparently, been compared to those of Dostoyevsky! Bill Owens, then the Republican Governor of Colorado travelled across the Atlantic to take part in a debate on the use of capital punishment.

Occupation: Barrister; member of Dublin City Council

There can be a temptation when looking back to think only of the successes, but we had our share of mishaps that year too. One particular week comes to mind, in which all of the committee’s efforts had gone into promoting a visit from Rev Jesse Jackson. That event was one of the great nights of the year – he packed the house and gave a truly memorable performance. The trouble was that later in the same week we were also welcoming the former US Senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart.

We had omitted to publicise Senator Hart’s visit properly and I will always remember the grace he showed when we delayed starting the event for almost an hour as we waited for a crowd to materialise that was never to come, only then to have to move the event from a theatre in the Arts Block to a small classroom upstairs, in a vain attempt to soften the impact of the tiny crowd. He dealt stoically with it all and gave what one of the attendees (a group I referred to that year as the “Gary Hart 19”) described as the “best politics tutorial they had ever attended!” The numbers certainly would have been about right.

Without a doubt, the best thing about the L&H and UCD as a whole was the people I got to know. To this day so many of my closest friends remain people I first met in College. And this is no bad thing, because in the two spheres in which I work, law and politics, it’s impossible to avoid them!

FIONA KENNY

Award Year: 1997

Course: Politics

Activities: Arts Day; Students’ Club Management Committee; Women’s Aid; Students’ Union; various clubs & societies

Occupation: Online writer; trainer; digital marketer

I know people often say that you make lifelong friends in college. I did. In the years since College we’ve celebrated births, marriages, and grieved together. During our time in UCD we argued politics and music, handed out flyers for elections, shook buckets for the Simon Community, and had more fun than was sometimes good for our academic careers! I was one of the people who took the “scenic route” through college, having started as a day student out of school and later moving to studying at night with other mature students.

There are things I won’t forget. The Chaplain, Fr John Hassett, arriving up to my parents’ house, when I was nineteen, to visit my mother in the months before her death. In a large University I didn’t expect that amount of care and community, yet there it was.

UCD gave me lots of things: I was the first female Chairperson of the Students’ Club; I saw bands I’d never heard of; I sat in Theatre L to hear some of the best speakers ever, and got to meet people I might not have come across if I hadn’t studied there. It didn’t matter what your interests were; there was a club or society that valued you, and there was a niche for just about everyone. My time in the Students’ Union showed me that there are so many people who do care about what happens to others and that students are about a lot more than just partying. (Though there was that too!) I went on to get my MA and tutor in the Politics Department, which is still my favourite place ever to have worked. The President’s Award was a lovely thing to get. As I’d taken a roundabout way to get my degree, it felt good that extracurricular activities were also valued and that UCD still believed that College is more than just lectures; it’s also a place where you shape the person as well as the student.

“It didn’t matter what your interests were; there was a club or society that valued you, and there was a niche for just about everyone.”

ELAINE LAVERY

Award Year: 2012

Course: Business & Law

Activities: Choral Scholars; University Observer

Occupation: Co-founder, Improper Food Limited

Years gone by and I can still feel the cold numbing my fingers and toes. Perhaps a case of student style over sensibility, at first, but soon realising that pride does in fact feel pain. Bundled up in Ugg boots, ski jackets, gloves, and scarfs, all so that you could focus on reading your line, on hitting that top note – when your mind would easily wander to what you’d have for dinner. Only 6.30pm, it would be another two and a half hours (at least) reciting the lesser-known choruses of Handel’s Messiah… It was only Monday. We’d be back on Wednesday. Two hours, twice a week. The only four hours of the week that everyone knew where they had to be, whether they wanted to or not.

They were the dark, frozen November evenings, rehearsing for a Choral Celebration of Christmas in Memorial Hall. Arriving late from

double law in Roebuck Castle because you’d never leave a James McDermott lecture early, the entertainment being too good for one and you wouldn’t dare leave mid-show, attracting the attention of comic for two! Even on a bicycle it took ten minutes to cross campus. Arriving late to rehearsal risked having to sing a line of a new verse on your own; you’d rather that than the humiliation of being singled out in front of 300 second year Law students.

My memories of UCD are as a Choral Scholar. The Scholars were my UCD family. In the years that have followed, relationships have blossomed, engagements and weddings have been celebrated, business relationships have fused, in my case a three yearlong business partnership has prospered. I can’t imagine where I’d be had I not found my voice and my place in UCD.

SEÁN MAC DHONNAGÁIN

Award Year: 2016

Course: Mathematics, Statistics

Activity: Dramsoc

Occupation: Student

When I think of the six years I spent at UCD, the first thing to come to mind is not the studying itself, but my time in Dramsoc. I first stepped into the theatre at the start of my second year and by the end of the year, I had been on stage in eight different plays and involved backstage with several others.

Over the next few years, I became more involved in set building. Dramsoc gave me the opportunity to design sets that could be surrounded by water, or made up of honeycombs, or that descended from the ceiling. This, to me, was the true magic of the society – the chance to take an idea, be it a set or a script or a lighting design, and to bring it to life using all these amazing resources offered to all of us.

I will always look back fondly on the time I spent in the Society. I will proudly recall representing UCD at the Irish Student Drama Association Festivals in Belfast and Galway, and playing to full seating rigs in the Dramsoc Theatre. Most of all, I will remember the friends I made in the Society – friends I hope will still be my best friends many years from now.

EDWARD MACKLE

Award Year: 2003

Course: Computer Science

Activity: I got the award for rescuing a drowning woman in the River Liffey

Occupation: Initiative Manager, LEGO Foundation in Switzerland

When driving down to Dublin to start my undergraduate degree in Computer Science, I did so alone. No one from my school in Northern Ireland was attending UCD that year. Therefore, as I turned the key for the first time to my apartment in Merville, I can safely say I had no idea what the next 4 years would hold.

While I enjoyed my degree (and did just enough to get by each year!), it was the friends I made who had the greatest impact on me. From a group of French and American foreign-exchange students, to my classmates or my rowing crew, each group helped me realise a fantastic university experience.

I cannot profess to be a typical recipient of the President’s Award – as I didn’t receive it for consistent student excellence over many years at College. Instead, I received it in my first year. During the annual UCD-Trinity boat race, a woman was seen floating unconscious in the water near the Ha’Penny Bridge. Being a strong swimmer, I decided to jump off the bridge (my grandmother told me never to try anything like that again!) to help rescue the woman.

It is hard to believe that 15 years have now passed since that I turned that key in Merville. In those early days, it was difficult to look to the future and to plot a personal journey. However, looking back now, I can see the strong foundation that UCD provided for a career that has taken me to the United Nations in New York, and more recently to the LEGO Foundation in Switzerland. I was lucky to also meet my wife at UCD, but I am not sure that my university experience ever prepared me for married life with 14-monthold twins!

COLM MAGUIRE

Award Year: 2002

Course: Commerce

Activities: Commence Day; University Observer

Occupation: Working in the software and insurance industry in Ireland

The earliest memory of my UCD time begins with the ‘Welcome Freshers’ Breakfast’ where I made my first of many lifelong college friends. I remember that during that first month in UCD as a Commerce undergraduate, I had the crazy notion of wanting to at least say “hello” to everyone in the class (of about 300 people). I calculated that I would need to sit beside one person per day to meet this goal before graduation - I reached 20 before I stopped! Luckily for me, this 20th (and last person) became a lifetime friend ever since (take a bow, Mel Casey).

I probably should not commit this to paper, but a smile comes to my face as I recall the spring afternoon when I was ceremoniously thrown in the lake (as promised) by my friends and campaign team upon losing the Students’ Union election for Entertainments Officer. (Note to self – UCD just wasn’t ready for my ‘naked with a strategically placed pint of Guinness’ poster campaign, however I understand that some friends’ mothers were delighted to use surplus posters as fridge pin-ups. Many lessons have been learned since and some even applied.)

The year of receiving the President’s Award, I was the Chairperson of Commerce Day and Assistant Editor of the University Observer, with joint-responsibility for publishing the Student’s Union newspaper every other week.

What both activities had in common were 2 fantastic teams of dedicated and enthusiastic people working, volunteering, and learning together. For our efforts, both Commerce Day and the Observer won a number of College, national, and international awards.

Since then, many people from both teams have gone on to very successful careers in Irish and international business, finance, and media in what appears to be a common theme across all faculties and classes of UCD.

I don’t get to visit Belfield often nowadays, but when I do, I take great pleasure in walking along the concourse, past the Lake (of course!) and through the corridors of the old Arts building to the sights and sounds of eager students, and the echoes of those long graduated.

I have no idea who nominated me for the President’s Award, and this anonymity is part of what makes UCD and the President’s Awards so wonderful, where those you don’t know can and do affect you in positive ways. Indeed many of the random interactions and events we encountered in UCD have woven together the fabric of many of our lives in unseen ways that have made us all who we are now. I am very proud to have been a student of this wonderful university and grateful to this day for all the unforgettable memories, friendship, and connections it has given me.

JASON MASTERSON

Award Year: 2010

Course: English & History

Activities: Dramsoc; Musical Society

A group of us attended UCD between 2005 and 2010 whose interests lay in theatre of scale. There was a desire within Dramsoc to produce shows outside the LG theatre (the Dramsoc home at the time), specifically the first Leaving Certificate production of Macbeth, which made use of the Astra Hall in a way that had never been done before. This was my first experience working on this scale and the excitement (and tension) in the Society was electric.

The following year Eoin Kilkenny became Dramsoc Auditor during a year where we produced a show in Russia, swept the boards at ISDA, produced a Fr Ted show (that can now be seen as the initial stages of Foil, Arms and Hog), as well as launching the 24-hour musical. On the side we had been asked to get involved in a UCD Community Musical in O’Reilly Hall, a scale that had never been attempted before. We had no idea what we were doing but we sought guidance, help, and support for various sources and produced the biggest show ever put on the Belfield campus up to that point.

Occupation: Manager, UCD Student Centre

The friends and colleagues developed over that period led to a team that went on to produce the Dramsoc musical RENT which then set the ball rolling for the creation of the UCD Musical Society. I went on to produce the Community Musical Footloose and became Auditor of the Musical Society. It was the team, including the Musical Society Treasurer (and now my wife) Ciara and those on the inaugural committee that got involved who paved the way for the Musical Society that we have today.

DAVID MATTHEWS

Award Year: 1995

Course: Commerce

Activities: Track & Field Scholarship

Occupation: Regional Development Officer, Athletics Ireland

– Noel Carroll, UCD Track & Field Coach (19911998)

It was on a balmy June evening in 1992, Belfield, when I first heard those words. Over the next 6 magical years before Noel passed away I must have heard it a hundred times. The net was cast and I was caught that evening.

An International Athletic meet was being held on the track in UCD. Irish University Selection v Brown University v British University Selection. The last thing the various Athletic coaches expected was a fresh-faced secondary school student upsetting the odds. I was introduced to two men who over the next 6 years would mould and mentor me: Noel Carroll and Dr Tony O’Neill. They were enthusiastic, ambitious, and forward thinking. At the time they had a vision for UCD Sport and wanted me to be a part of it.

When word spread in Ireland that I was taking up an Athletic Scholarship in UCD it certainly raised an eyebrow or two among the Athletic fraternity. Conventional thinking was if you wanted to pursue your athletic career and be successful the USA Collegiate system was the tried and tested formula, following in the footsteps of Ronnie Delaney, Eamon Coughlan, and Sonia O’Sullivan. The “Doc” & Noel had other ideas. With the help of Finbarr Costello (Chairman of the Sports Development Trust) and the College authorities they established a programme that would help nurture athletic talent at third level and provide a viable alternative to having to leave Ireland.

“It’s not the distance, David…It’s the pace that Kills”

I studied a Bachelor of Commerce and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was exciting times in the world of Business: lots happening in Europe; Ireland emerging from recession into exponential growth. I still remember with fondness the contrasting (but highly effective) styles of both Dr Desmond Norton & Dr Martin Butler. We were blessed to have over 300 acres to train: I can say I’ve covered every inch of the vast Belfield campus, from the hill at Merville Residence to the grass pitches opposite the Sports Centre. In all types of weather, training was never cancelled on Noel’s watch. “No such thing as bad weather lads…only weak men.” Twice a day for 345 days of year we trained in UCD. “Miles to run, promises to keep” - another one of Noel’s one-liners. Simple but deep.

Friendships were fostered (some more than others) and it was over an infamous game of pool in the Trap with Pierce O’Callaghan (BComm 98) that I was introduced to Niamh Jacob (BA 98) and as they say, “The rest is history”. Not only did UCD provide me with an education and athletic career but also the final piece in life’s jigsaw: a beautiful wife!

From 1992-2000 I wore the UCD singlet with pride: Madison Square Gardens, The Penn Relays, “The Golden Four” (Berlin, Brussels, Oslo, Zurich), and Australia. In a sporting world where the landscape is dominated by large commercial athletics companies it was always gratifying to wear the St Patrick’s Blue & Saffron while competing against the best.

1 wife, 2 Olympic Games, 2 Irish Track records, 4 European Championships, 5 World Championships: what more could a person ask for. I will be eternally grateful for all that UCD has done for me.

Now in my early forties I don’t run as fast, in fact I do well to run at all. But while out running now my mind regularly wanders back to Belfield and those magical times. I suppose it’s an age thing, but what I’d give to go back one last time to that balmy evening in Belfield, just one more lap with both Dr Tony & Noel.

A chat, a laugh, a story, a one liner, a lesson.

I would call it, “A Lap in their Honour”.

DAMIAN MCDONALD

Award Year: 1995

Course: Economics, Maths

Activities: Students’ Union

Occupation: Director General, Irish Farmers Association

I arrived in UCD from Wexford in 1990. It was to be life-changing experience. I emerged from UCD with a primary degree in Economics and Maths and a masters in Economics. However, it was my involvement in college life that had the biggest impact on my personal development.

I was involved in numerous societies and ended up being elected chair of the Students’ Union Council. This position essentially amounted to trying to keep the peace at the Council meetings, which had elected representatives from all faculties. It tended to draw people with strong views on all sorts of issues. In general, I tried to keep the Council focused on matters directly relevant to students at UCD rather than straying into the problems of the world. 20 years on and I recall very little of what the issues - passionately argued at the time - actually

My other main extra-curricular activity was quizzes. The early 90s was the height of the Table Quiz boom. There was practically one somewhere in UCD every mid-week night. Gerry Lannon, a medical student from Roscommon, was part of our team and he was a quiz whizz. It would be exaggerating to say that prize money from quizzes put us through college but it made a big difference. On two occasions we qualified to represent UCD in ‘Challenging Times’, the RTÉ version of University Challenge run in conjunction with the Irish Times. We won a number of rounds, but we were beaten at the semi-final stage both years, which was a big disappointment at the time.

The main thing I remember about winning the President’s Award was that it was some evidence for my parents that all the time they considered I misspent in activities, other than study, was being acknowledged in some way. When they heard I was getting the Award they had only one question: “Will this help you to get a job?” I’d like to think it did!

AOIFE MCEVOY

Award Year: 2015

Course: Medicine

Activities: Medical Society; Societies’ Council

Occupation: Still a student!, UCD School of Medicine

How can I capture the last 6 years I’ve spent in Belfield in a way that would do them justice?

When you speak to people from different universities, their one resounding comment tends to be that UCD is so big and it must be impossible to make friends and get involved in campus life. Thankfully, for me, that is something that has never rang true.

Getting involved in UCD societies has massively enhanced my entire college experience. I worked harder on events we put on in MedSoc than I did for most of my exams in the initial years of College. A lot of my memories of being in the Library involve very interrupted study periods, where I’d be up and down every few minutes taking phone calls or writing emails to put together the last few details of an event. Looking back, the events seem a little more insignificant now, but I don’t for a second regret any of the work. Through roles in societies, I’ve honed my skills in public speaking, organisation, teamwork, and management (to name but a few) and have garnered experience that would be difficult to get in most full-time jobs. I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years but what I’ve done has added so much more to my education for the future than many of the core modules in my course have.

What has made it so enjoyable is the people we worked with. I suppose there is a certain like-mindedness present in most of the people involved in campus life: a willingness to engage that has made for some of the strongest friendships. Bonds are built in society dilemmas, dramas, and “crisis” situations - those instances are some of the funniest and fondest to reminisce over now with life-long friends.

Involvement in societies has been such a valuable asset to my development throughout College and will forever be outstanding in my mind when I think back over my time spent in Belfield.

“I suppose there is a certain like-mindedness present in most of the people involved in campus life”

KILLIAN MCKENNA

Award Year: 2011

Course: Electrical Engineering

Activities: Jazz Society

Occupation: PhD Candidate, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

I was once told at UCD that I had brought “cool charms to a new level in Belfield”. I can’t say being told I’m cool is a regular occurrence, or an occurrence at all for that matter, but it certainly left an indelible impression when it was none other than President Dr Hugh Brady who made the assertion to a full O’Reilly Hall.

It was 2011, the year I was privileged enough to be part of an effort to reanimate the syncopated foot tapping, finger-clicking, swinging pulse of the UCD Jazz Society. Frank Zappa once said “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny” and things certainly smelt funny on campus with a distinct Eau De Pop, Rock, and other such aromas. Inspired by a weathered old poster of Ghandi proclaiming “Be the change you want to see”, placed in no finer an establishment than the old pool hall known as the Trap, I decided to instigate a jazz revolution.

Cobbled together in the flurry of Freshers’ Week and with a bit of bribery in the form of plastic kazoos and t-shirts ‘Team Jazz’ was formed. It was their mission to turn that UCD jazzy smell from funny to funky. With a lethal cocktail of ignorance and unabashed ambition we pledged to recruit 1,000 members, start the first ever UCD Jazz Big Band, start the inaugural UCD Jazz Festival, and have no less than a keyboard and drum kit purchased before the college year was out.

But no. We didn’t recruit 1,000 members. Nor did we start UCD’s first Jazz Big Band. Or even get a keyboard - at least not that year. To continue the run of quotes (this one from a rival alma mater), it was a case of “ever tried, ever failed, no matter…” We tried again and failed again, but at each fail the sound of trumpeting jazz increased a little.

Up from the ashes of our failures rose the UCD Jazz Ensembles, a format that has stuck to this day, plaguing events and functions with renditions of Green Onions, the theme from Peter Gunn, and the occasional Autumn Leaves. With additional support from UCD we did manage to purchase a rusty old drum kit that had heaps of character, and which I guess might have too much character at this stage. And yes, we did manage to kick off UCD Jazz Festival; a festival Irish jazz drumming legend Kevin Brady said in subsequent years was starting to “turn heads as the biggest student Jazz Festival.”

Most importantly we had the students of UCD playing and immersing themselves in a music that, as drumming legend Art Blakey once put it, “washes away the dust of everyday life”, and I guess that’s a bit, how should one put it? Cool.

MICHELLE MCLOUGHLIN

Award Year: 1994

Course: Business & Legal Studies

Activities: St Vincent de Paul Society; Belfield Folk Group; European Law Students Association

Occupation: Solicitor; Lecturer; Business Consultant

We saw no barriers that could not be overcome and we believed we could make a difference. I was part of the very first Bachelor of Business and Legal Studies class in UCD. I arrived with enthusiasm and determination. As well as studying and learning, it was my time to give back, to focus on others, on societal issues of social justice and equality.

I joined the UCD St Vincent de Paul Society with likeminded students to try to make a difference. We worked with local initiatives such as helping out with Donnybrook Youth Club, visiting a nursing home, helping out students with their homework, and we were also part of a larger group who did weekly prison visits. We were there to listen, support, and help where we could.

During my time in College it was UCD’s turn to organise the St Vincent de Paul’s Intervarsity Conference. I worked with a fantastic group of students, mainly from Social Sciences, who all volunteered their time and hosted a fantastic conference. We chose the theme of social justice and focussed on what we students could do to contribute to a better society. We had such high hopes that we could change and improve society. It is a theme that is still current and a huge issue in our society today. We were privileged to have the then President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and Fr Peter McVerry speak at the conference.

I have fond memories of my time in UCD, the fantastic clubs and societies, the positive can do attitude and ethos of UCD, and all the wonderful friends I met in College.

LORRAINE MUCKIAN

Award Year: 2003

Course: Industrial Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology

Activities: Ladies Gaelic Football Club

September 1997: I was 17 and 2 months young, green beyond belief and heading off to the big smoke to join my older brother at University College Dublin. One of the major positives about UCD was having my brother there, I thought we would see each other regularly and he could be my security blanket... Foolish ideas of a younger sibling, I saw him twice on campus in 9 months. UCD is a big place!

Occupation: World traveller!

Previously I worked in Vancouver as an Environmental Consultant.

I was left to fend for myself so I got busy on club sign-up day; the one that stuck was the Ladies Gaelic Football Club. There was a large crew of freshers that joined that year and we were taken under the wing of the more senior girls and shown the ropes... Hot ports after freezing cold nights training on the Devlin; walks through the pitch-black forest trails to the back of the Merville Residence; shortcuts around the double warm-up laps that followed the white fence in front of the Nova building; and they introduced a select few of us to the Forum, where we would eventually end-up spending a large portion of our free time doing committee duty! Joining the Ladies Football Club was probably the best thing I did in College, bar none. I spent eight glorious years playing with some of the brightest stars of the sport and one year coaching them. I was challenged both physically and mentally throughout that time, building character as only sport can do! The gut-wrenching pain of the one-point losses and the absolute ecstasy of the one-point victories!

During my 9 years in UCD I was involved with the Club committee too, working with the late Dave Billings and Suzanne Bailey and the UCD Sport’s staff in an effort to continuously improve and grow the Club. It was an exciting era that saw Dave introduce the first women’s football bursary and scholarships; the Club hosted the O’Connor Cup (All-Ireland Intervarsity competition) for the first time; we won the Freshers’ All-Ireland Cup and the Division 1 All-Ireland League and Cup for the first time; we introduced a second team that went on to win the Division 2 League and Cup; and one of the most satisfying achievements for the Club and all those who contributed to its greatness was when almost 40 Club members travelled to University of Limerick in 2002 and completed an unprecedented, and since unrivalled, Division 1 and 2 Intervarsity Cup double! Amazing times and memories for life!

Most importantly we were all fortunate to have had the opportunity to connect in UCD and meet some of the most genuine, loyal, and inspiring people possible. I have medals galore from my UCD days and they have already begun to tarnish, but it is the friendships that I gained and the memories that we made both on and off the pitch that shine the brightest and will never dim. Those are what I treasure most above all else!

MARK MURPHY

Award Year: 2013

Course: Medicine

Activities: Medical Society

Occupation: Cardiothoracic Surgery, St James’ Hospital

For any young person starting university is a special time in their life. It marks a transition point from adolescence into adulthood. For me, the excitement and anticipation from that time of my life is as vivid now as it ever was. I will always remember my first day in UCD. University, unlike secondary school, exposes you to a student body of thousands. As such there is an opportunity to find, meet, and mix with like-minded people like never before. Nowhere is this opportunity more apparent than with the student societies. My first exposure to this was the tent at Freshers’ Week. I was amazed at all the different societies to pick and choose from. There really was something for everyone. The smell of popcorn and pizza with enthusiastic students constantly approaching you, saying their piece, and hoping to get their hands on your two-euro membership fee is a distinctive memory. As a fresher the goal was to join as many societies as possible with the principle motivation being which society had the best discounts on their membership cards and which societies gave out the most free pizza.

Later in my time I ran for the position of Treasurer and later Auditor of the UCD Medical Society. It was a fantastic opportunity to get involved in event management as well as managing big budgets of tens of thousands of euro - experiences that remain with me to this day. Our goal was always to think outside the box, to come up with new events, and never to do something just because that was always the way things had been done before. We challenged ourselves and had great fun doing it. During that time the Society flourished and we were awarded the UCD Society Of The Year Award, which was a special honour.

One of our biggest challenges was the annual Med Ball. The Ball was due to be held in the Citywest Hotel in 2010. We had sold over six hundred tickets and everyone was really excited with hundreds of hotel rooms booked. The night before the Ball, Ireland was covered in two feet of snow. We woke up on the morning of the Ball to find that many key people for the event (including busses for three hundred people) had cancelled on us. We managed to rebook everything at short notice and the Ball was an incredible success - it’s still talked of fondly as ‘The Snow Ball’. Experiences like these sum up UCD life. Getting involved and immersing yourself in student life is something you will never regret. The memories I have from that time will stay with me for the rest of my life.

AOIFE NIC SHAMHRÁIN

Award Year: 2010

Course: Medicine

I will never forget the thrill and sense of utter excitement that I had during my many years spent in UCD working alongside others in Bord na Gaeilge, Teach na Gaeilge, and the Students’ Union. Every day brought along new friends, challenges, and opportunities to involve more and more students in the Irish community on campus. No day was dull. I even remember spending one Christmas morning brainstorming event ideas and making sponsorship proposals.

Activities: Teach na Gaeilge; Aontas na Mac Léinn

Occupation: Medical Doctor, GP Trainee

One of my favourite memories from UCD was organising Seachtain na Gaeilge 2009. What began as a small idea on paper - encouraging students to sign-up to speak Irish for an entire day or week - turned into a week of over 1,000 UCD students going about their day wearing the luminous green hoodie from the campaign, attending over 20 events as Gaeilge and thoroughly enjoying using Irish. Even the shops joined-in with bilingual signs. I enjoyed driving into UCD past the ‘An Ghaeltacht’ signs for the week. It was an unforgettable experience to be standing beside Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh as we released 1,000 green balloons into the UCD sky surrounded by my peers knowing that a few ideas, even if they sound much too difficult to achieve initially, with a little bit of work, and a lot of support and courage anything can be achieved.

BREANDÁN Ó HANNAIDH

Award Year: 2002

Course: Engineering, Microwave Electronics

Activities: GAA; GAA Supporters Society; Academic Council; Governing Authority; An Cumann Gaelach; Teach na Gaeilge Device Modelling & Occupation: Characterisation, Process Development, Analog Devices, Ireland

During my undergraduate years as an Engineering student, I endured long hours: travel commuting from home; lectures and assignments; Sigerson and Dublin Championship football; Intercounty football Wicklow and with my own club, Bray Emmets. To this end most of my undergraduate years were well balanced, well defined, but rigorously timetabled, which didn’t provide for much exposure to other elements of University life. This all changed when studying for my PhD.

Gone were the lecture timetables, the assignments, the exams, and I moved on-campus. Yes, there was plenty of research and study - if not more - but this was conducted at various times of my own will allowing me more interaction with University life. Football still played a major role of course.

By chance, I was allocated accommodation with three Students’ Union political hacks. They quickly realised that postgraduate positions within the Union and University politics were usually left empty, or at least uncontested, which meant getting me involved (on their side) was an easy way to muster additional support in any vote should the time or necessity arrive. And so it was that I began to interact with groups outside my previous undergraduate spheres – left and right wing political hacks, Students’ Union aficionados, club and society organisers, sponsors, academia, RAs (resident assistants), and more sports organisations.

And through my newfound acquaintances I walked into the old Student Bar one evening, saw a friend talking to four women, walked straight over, and was introduced to my future wife.

Being a Gael, I also got involved in the Irish scene. I had heard of a new scheme, the Scéim Chónaithe, or Teach na Gaeilge. I applied (unusual for a postgrad at the time) and was deemed perhaps a risky acceptable and so was granted an opportunity to participate in a fantastic new venture. This would shape so many more activities and chances to meet with other students from all around Ireland.

These experiences have clearly shaped my life. I’ve emigrated and worked abroad, immigrated back and now married with three kids, speak Irish at home, working in the Electronics Industry, and still playing football. My experience in UCD will influence my life for many years to come.

Le linn mo thréimhse mhic léinn Innealtóireachta, chaith mé tamall fada ag taisteal ón mbaile, ag freastal ar léachtanna agus tascanna, maraon le bheith ag imirt peile dona chomórtaisí Sigerson, Craobh Átha Chliath, Idir Chontae agus Club ‘sagainne Bray Emmets i gCill Mhantáin. Dá bharr seo, bhí mo shaol fochéime céillí go leor ach leagtha amach sa chaoi nár lig dom mórán ama a chaitheamh in eachtraí eile Ollscoile. D’aithrigh sé sin go léir le linn mo thaighde iarchéime PhD i Leictreonachas Ard-mhinicíochta.

Bhí deireadh curtha leis na léachtanna, na tascanna, na scrúdaithe, agus fuair mé lóistín ar champas. Bhí neart taighde fós, gan dabht, ach ag uaireannta an lae a d’oirfeadh domsa. Thug an athrú seo seans dom bheith níos rannpháirtí in saol na hOllscoile. Agus bhí baint mór ag an bpeil leis gan dabht.

Mar a tharla sé, fuair mé lóistín le triúir a raibh dúil mór acu in Aontas na Mac Léinn. D’aithin siad cumhacht vótála suíochán an mhic léinn iarchéime neamhiomaithe i bpolaitíocht na hOllscoile agus thug siad futhú mé a mhealladh. Agus ba é sin tús leis an idirgníomaíocht le grupanna nua an lae – tráchtairí polaiticiúla, saineolaithe an Aontais Mhic Léinne, eagraithe clubanna agus cumainn, RAs, agus tuilleadh eagraíochtaí spóirt.

Is tríd mo chomhluadar nua sin a bhuail mé le mo bhean chéile oíche amháin, tar éis dom buaileadh

isteach don sean Teach Tabhairne na Mac Léinn, agus cara liom a fheiceáil ag caint le scata ban.

Chuala mé faoin Scéim Chónaithe, nó Teach na Gaeilge, agus sheol mé iarratas isteach. Bronnadh áit dom mar mhac léinn iarchéime agus thug sé seans iontach dom buaileadh le daoine eile ó gach áit agus oidhreacht den tír. Chuaigh sé go léir i bhfeidhm go mór orm i mo shaol.

D’eisimircigh mé chun oibre, d’inimircigh mé ar ais. Tá post leictreonachas agam agus mé fós ag imirt peile. Tá mé anois pósta, le triúir pháiste iontacha atá á dtógadh againn trí mheáin na Gaeilge. Is léir go raibh baint mór ag mo shaol i UCD ar mo shaol ó shin amach.

DARREN O’BEIRNE

Award Year: 1997

Course: Chemical Engineering

Activities: Photographic Society; University Observer; College Tribune

Which matters most, the photograph or the memory? A photograph possesses the power to catalyse, immortalize, or even manipulate a memory. For me personally, it just so happens that my memories and photographs for much of the 90s consist predominantly of UCD images. Looking back now, which do I hold dearest?

Before I attempt to answer this, let us first fast forward to present day UCD life. Today, thanks to the ubiquitous phone, photography has proliferated to the proletariat. Undoubtedly at this very moment, many photos are being shared in realtime, while simultaneously many more images are casually shunted into a vast digital abyss where an enormous repository of campus life is accumulating, biding its time for later resurrection. This wasn’t always so.

Occupation: Project Manager @ Alkermer (pharmaceutical company)

In my time working for the college newspapers, clubs, and societies, I snapped several rolls of film a week. That’s thirty-six images per film roll, times three, per week. This would have been considered a large number of photographs. I would cycle from Belfield to the Earlsfort Terrace darkroom, develop and print the images, then return to meet the deadline with the paper. Photography was effort. Taking photos was either expensive or time consuming. Sharing a photo was effort. Sharing a photo was rare.

Looking back, did I squander my time couriering film and photos? What was gained by the PhotoSoc team teaching hundreds of fellow-students a soon-to-be redundant darkroom skill? What really stayed are the memories: UCD scoring against Liverpool in Lansdowne; the Fashion Show glamour; crashing the Arts Ball; young Glen Hansard exciting the mosh pit in the Bar; Dermot Morgan in Theatre L; cycling from town with fresh prints having requested to “hold the front page”; Mary McAleese presenting her manifesto; the peace process politicians; schoolboys Ash supporting Ronnie Drew and The Dubliners in a tent; the lifelong friends and connections made; the adventures we all shared and maybe contributing just a little bit to the campus fabric.

For me the memories and photography remain inseparable. However, the key to great memo ries and photographs is the exact same: occasion ally stop, turn around, observe the mundane, breathe it in, capture the moment...

GEARÓID O’CONNOR

Award Year: 2001

Course: Economics, Politics

Activities: Student’s Union; Belfield FM; University Observer; Literary & Historical Society; Kevin Barry

Cumann

Occupation: EMEA Services Manager, Veracode (Cybersecurity)

Whether working in the warzones of Afghanistan and Cote D’Ivoire, bustling balmy India, or living in orderly Frankfurt it is only with the benefit of hindsight that I can recognise the value of that crucible that helps forge UCD students. I’ve been particularly fortunate that life has taken me - and my fellow classmates - on a wide and diverse path in subsequent years. This has not simply been in the geographical sense but also the professional: from graduate trainee at KPMG UK to today in the topical space of Cybersecurity at US start-up Veracode. And though life has few certainties, I’m unequivocal that many of the skills and experience I have relied upon to date can be traced directly back to that formative time in UCD. And, more specifically, time spent beyond the lecture hall and Library, immersed in the vibrant college life that has always been fostered and on offer to students.

At times there appeared to be as many societies as there were students. The student journalism: founding Belfield FM with Enda Curran (now in Bloomberg Hong Kong) and writing columns, sketching cartoons, and building a website for the University Observer with Juno McEnroe and Daniel McConnell - they all contributed to shaping our abilities and outlook on the careers we cherish today. Even the “clandestine drinking” down the tunnels of UCD probably manifests itself in my CEO’s recent feedback to me that “there is something of the insurgent in you”. Hopefully in these days of “flat whites and lattes” the students still have a touch of that social static electricity that leads them to start a movement or a company. My comfort in front of any audience, dealing with the complimentary to the combative, can be directly traced to my time in the bear pit of Theatre M with the L&H. Few things in project management have ever felt as complicated as the project to set-up a licensed radio station – Belfield FM. My passion for politics remains as undiminished today as it was when I was Chairman of the Kevin Barry Cumman, though I’m somewhat less tribal in my loyalties these days. It seems remarkable that a government would sponsor students as a delegation to talk with Loyalists in Belfast but perhaps in hindsight it was a reflection that the peace process hinged more on those that would inherit it rather than those that signed it.

The most enduring proof of how important that time was for me - and hopefully remains to those who pass through UCD today - is the close friendships and wider network which endures decades later. The talent and energy across those alumni is both humbling and inspiring in the same instance when invited to reflect upon it. With Cardinal John Henry Newman’s words that “Growth is the only evidence of life”, I can reflect on a time where I arguably grew up and stepped into a wider world all the better for it. For that I remain eternally grateful to my alma mater.

“Few things in project management have ever felt as complicated as the project to setup a licensed radio station”

GILLIAN O’HALLORAN

Award Year: 2008

Course: Psychology

Activities: Choral Scholars, Musical Society

Occupation: Management Consultant

Looking back, my second year in UCD was undoubtedly the highlight of my college education: graduating from university and getting a Masters; my first job; my first home - all things I’m proud of. When I consider the last decade, it’s the activities I undertook and the people I met along the way that made, and continue make me truly happy.

Singing with the Choral Scholars got me excited on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Performing for intimate and grand audiences may have taken their breath away, but I’m the one who remembers the melodies and the smells of the Chapel, passing through the kitchens en route to the stage and hearing the sound of my own voice amplify back to me with clarity in O’Reilly Hall. It’s the feeling, more than the memory, which brings it back to life. What a great time it was!

When I think of UCD, I firstly think of my studies, but if I review now what had the biggest impact on me and my University experience, it was the music and debating I revelled in, and the people and parties that followed. My education circled from books and tutorials, to melodies and arguments. A fitting preparation for the story that has since followed…

GREGG O’NEILL

Award Year: 2006

Course: History

Activities: Literary & Historical Society; World University Debating Championships 2006; Philosophy Society; Kevin Barry Cumann; Societies Council

Occupation: Teacher, Christian Brothers College, Monkstown Park; Author

I’ll never forget my first one. It was a Friday evening, mid-September 2000. The Arts Block was cold and dark. I was alone, my friends from school having abandoned me to go the Student Bar (“you know we can legally drink now?”) or their jobs in Xtra-Vision. So I went on my own. Theatre M was heaving, packed to the rafters (I would learn later that sized crowd exceeded the fire code). The L&H was gathering for its first debate of the year to debate whether porn caused more pain than pleasure. I sat there for over three hours as speaker after speaker extolled or condemned the effects of pornography on society and the individual. Students who had the crowd roaring with laughter one minute and held them in rapt silence the next. The guests ranged from a professional porn star to a man whose wife had been butchered by a porn-obsessed serial killer. At the end, I was hooked. I’d found my UCD.

The Literary and Historical Society would come to dominate my time in UCD more than I could ever have imagined possible. In the years to come, I would serve on two committees, put up more posters than I care to remember, meet famous people (one of whom let me carry her Oscar in a plastic Spar bag), write letters to people simply to get the polite replies on headed note paper from the office of Vice-President Cheney, drink more cheap wine than was safe for anyone, get in trouble with Arts Services a lot, and fight for power in auditorial elections - which were life and death struggles for the ages (I’ve yet to experience anything quite like the smugness of the victories or the bitterness of the defeats). Debating took me to New York, Malaysia, Istanbul, Vancouver, Paris, Berlin and many other places. It also brought the world to UCD when I was the deputy convenor of the World University Debating Championships in 2006. Over 1000 students from across the globe gathered in Belfield over 9 long days to participate in the world’s largest non-sporting student event.

I found time to be Auditor of the Philosophy Society and Chairman of the KBC and when I was finally pushed out the door of the committees, I was elected to three terms as Chair of the Societies’ Council. Even then, I couldn’t let debating go. As society activities outgrew the space and patience of Arts Services and the SU didn’t seem interested in helping (there was probably a protest march on to save the spotted owl from the war in Iraq), I led the campaign to pass the referendum in 2006 to fund the new Student Centre with its pool, and cinema, and drama theatre, and, of course, purpose-built debating chamber. I can be honest now and admit there would have been no campaign without the promise of the FitzGerald Chamber.

And it’s still debating that brings me back to UCD. Working as a teacher now, I coach debating and my students debate in the same rooms in Arts that I did and in the Chamber that was finished long after my time if they are good enough to get to a final. My UCD is long gone now. There was no semesterisation or continuous assessment in the early years of the century. No Quinn School, no Sutherland Building, and the Science Block really was just a really big prefab held together with tape and hope. There was a Student Bar, and a Sports Bar, and time to do more than just one thing. But every so often as I wander through the Newman Building and I pass Theatre M, I can still hear the feint baying of the crowd that Friday night and the excitement comes flooding back. God, I really do miss it.

“At the end, I was hooked. I’d found my UCD.”

MARK O’TOOLE

Award Year: 1993

Course: Economics & Politics, Political Science

Activities: Film & Video Society; The Great Race; Politics Society

Occupation: Vice President

OpenLink Financial, New York, USA

I loved my time at UCD. It was an exciting time because things were changing and I was finding my way in the world.

I devoted a lot of time to student activities while I was at Belfield. As Auditor of the UCD Film Society, we grew the Society from an average of about 120 members to over a 1,000 members. We rebranded to UCD Film & Video Society, added more programming choices, and worked with the Audio Visual Centre to add in film classes and a competition where members could make their own films. I was lucky enough to have made one of the films that went on to get an award at the Galway Film Fleadh and was also broadcast on RTÉ. I think that was the first time anyone from UCD ever had a film at the Fleadh - or on RTÉ (but I could be wrong!). Gráinne Humphries, who now heads up the Dublin Film Festival, was also on our committee.

I co-founded The Great Race with a number of terrific auditors from other societies on campus and other colleges around the country, where we raised money for famine relief in Africa with a treasure hunt race between Dublin and London.

As Auditor of the Politics Society, while hosting some great debates, we managed several trips to Russia and Cuba – which were very different countries back in those days. What I didn’t realize at the time is how much doing all of this would go on to reflect who I am today and how I’ve managed to use all of these experiences later in life.

DAISY ONUBOGU

Award Year: 2015

Course: Law

Activities: Literary & Historical Society

Occupation: Director of Speakers Bureau, Web Summit

Putting this brief note together has been remarkably difficult. Which is strange in a way, because as someone pointed out, I’m normally all too happy to take any opportunity that arises to bend someone’s ear about how foundational and world-shaping my time at UCD was. On the other hand, it probably shouldn’t surprise that such a wealth of experiences, and the subsequent impact thereof, would be difficult to concisely sum up in a tidy paragraph, and harder even to do so without resorting to tired clichés. Still, difficult is not impossible, and after having given it a great deal of thought, I’d just like to say that in a nutshell, my involvement in student activity at UCD made me the woman I am today.

If nothing else, it clearly taught me the immeasurable value of a little self-awareness. Finding my way into the L&H, by way of a brief but memorable stint around the Dramsoc basement, was a fairly pivotal moment in my life. I went in, academically bright and yet almost wholly ignorant of everything that mattered, unsure of where exactly I fit in and who my tribe was, lacking any real sense of self, and all but crippled by anxiety and self-doubt.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by ideas, from those I had never considered, to those I had never appreciated, I learnt to look at the world differently, properly. To critically engage, take it apart and have enough confidence in the understanding I derived from that exercise to meet other people’s opinions with my own. I travelled across Europe, one intervarsity debating tournament at a time, figured out my sense of humour, and some other key pieces of who I was, and I found my people, my tribe - those who also wanted to swallow the whole world whole.

By the end of my second year, I had somehow found myself Auditor of the L&H. A black, 18-year-old, working-class, immigrant woman, from a single-parent household, atop the University’s oldest and most prestigious student society. The narrative certainly had a nice arc to it, but the reality was significantly less picture perfect. That year still remains among the hardest, and most stressful periods I’ve ever experienced in my life, but what a learning curve!

Honestly, fast-forward 4 years and every day working at Web Summit, whether it’s spent curating panel discussions between the Director-General of the WTO and the President of the UN General Assembly, or brokering a meeting between the founder of a Silicon Valley giant and the CEO of Renault-Nissan, feels like exercising lean muscles I first developed at 18 years old.

MICHAEL POWER

Award Year: 2004

Course: Chemistry, Education

Activities: Mature Students’ Society; UCDSU/USI campaign to reverse BTEA cuts

Occupation: Teacher of students with autism (secondary level)

When I reflect on my time at UCD, studying Science as a mature student with four young children at home, the word that comes strongly into my mind is ‘support’, and I consider myself fortunate to have received support from many quarters to enable me to stay in College, complete my degree programme, and achieve a Higher Diploma in Education.

I recall with gratitude how lecturers were often willing to give their time to help me cope with the academic challenges faced in learning material never before studied and in making choices as I navigated the options available in progressing through the degree programme. I felt that questions were always appreciated and it was gratifying to be told that lecturers valued the presence of a mature learner in their classes.

The support of the College’s Mature Student Advisers, namely Ros McFeely and Ronan Murphy, was instrumental to us in getting a vibrant Mature Students’ Society going. The Students’ Union was also helpful in supporting its development. The Society provided a much-needed social space for mature students to get to know one another, offer each other support, and feel more integrated into the fabric of University life.

Assistance from the College’s Advisers and the SU officers was essential each year in negotiating the arduous process of applying for the scholarships and various other supports that were needed to keep our heads above water. I am particularly grateful to two past presidents of the UCD Students’ Union, Paul Dillon (2003/04) and Fergal Scully (2004/05), for their support in the student-led campaign for the reversal of the cuts to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) in 2003. Without their help, the successful High Court challenge to the dreadful decision of the Minister for Social, Community & Family Affairs could not have been pursued. In looking back, I can see that being so well supported enabled me to be a support to others and to enjoy the many different aspects of student life at UCD.

GAVAN REILLY

Award Year: 2009

Course: Commerce & German Activities: Choral Scholars; German Society/DeutschSoc; Belfield FM; Students’ Union; University Observer

Occupation: Political Correspondent, Today FM

I remember reading an interview with Ryan Tubridy a few weeks after starting out in UCD where he likened Belfield to a small country, complete with its own government, stadium, clubs, societies, banks, and media. The observation hammered home just how much there was to do on my new doorstep, and how important it was to wring every last experience out of it.

And so over the first couple of years I threw myself into pretty much as many of those experiences as I could. I joined the Choral Scholars, was involved in reviving the then-dormant German Society, hosted a show on Belfield FM, ran for Class Rep and ended up becoming Students’ Union Secretary, and started writing for the University Observer.

All of those experiences were worthwhile, but the latter two experiences were the most pivotal of my life. Through the Observer I learned the power of good writing, and the importance of independent oversight – which was more than I had expected, given I only signed up in the hope of getting some free CDs. Through the Students’ Union I discovered the value in caring how the world was run, and the importance of effective representation. (It was also through the SU that I met the woman I’m marrying in a few months, which makes all the other important stuff seem utterly redundant by comparison.) Both pursuits uncovered itches I didn’t know I had, and gave plenty of chances to scratch them.

Mine has been a career path I could never have seen myself taking when I enrolled in 2004. In fact, had I gone to any other college, I probably wouldn’t have found myself working in journalism at all.

It’s often said that UCD gave back to a student only as much as they were willing to put in. My six years around the campus taught me how true that is. In a campus as big and as daunting as Belfield can be, it can be easy for a student to ‘float’ – to simply pass through without ever getting the chance to dip their toes in life outside the lecture theatres. I will be forever thankful that I had the chance to tap into the life outside the classrooms and forever grateful for the doors it opened up.

DHEERAJ SINGH-RATHORE

Award Year: 2016

Course: Biological & Environmental Science

Activities: International Student Ambassador; Teagasc Walsh Fellows newsletter; student activities for international students based in Teagasc

Occupation: Molecular Plant Pathologist (Contract Research Tech, Teagasc)

While I look at this picture hanging high on my father’s living room wall, I remember my days at UCD. That time has been a lifelong memory to cherish; a PhD degree in biological science gave me recognition for my passion in science and my dream came true to be a doctor. I was based in Teagasc (Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) for my research work, but I have been involved in several student activities at Teagasc as well as UCD. I have now moved in to a research job in Teagasc and my student life has reached a happy ending. However, the learning from UCD and the student life I have enjoyed will always keep a student alive inside me to take on lifetime lessons. I deeply feel proud and touched to be a part of UCD student life.

JUSTIN SINNOTT

Award Year: 1999

Course: History & Politics

Activities: Students’ Union; Literary & Historical Society

Occupation: Enterprise

Programmes Manager, Irish Research Council; County Councillor

Looking back to the twenty years since I was in UCD I’m struck by how different those times were. It was the pre-internet age and mobile phones were just about to come in vogue. The notice boards in the Arts Block, the Bar, and the Union Corridor were the main communication hubs.

My involvement was initially with the Students’ Union and then with a number of societies, including the L&H. It was quite an exciting time to be involved with the debating societies. What I remember most are the annual Northern Ireland debates – it was the time of ceasefires and the lead up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement; the debates were particularly intense. Equally, the debates on divorce were memorable in the lead up to the 1995 referendum. Friday evenings in Theatre M were very special even if the wine wasn’t great!

The activity that was most important to me was my involvement with the Students’ Union. It was a labour of love and my activism taught me an awful lot. In fact, many of the skills I learned during my time with the Union have been put to good use throughout my working life. We achieved a lot during those years, not least the planning and delivery of the Student Centre on campus. Other achievements have been lasting. Student representation on College committees and boards are taken for granted now. However, in the mid-1990s the only representation students had was a seat on the Governing Authority. Equally, the campaign for anonymous marking was one of the most important victories. My colleague from that time, Liam Dockery, deserves a lot of credit for his work on this.

For those of us who were Students’ Union activists the annual sabbatical elections are a stand out memory. They were incredibly tough but an extremely important aspect of my student experience. I think it would be fair to say that for all of us who were involved in student activities it represented something that was as important as our academic studies. My most cherished memories and lasting friendships came from the campaigns I worked on and the events I helped organise or participated in.

STEPHEN TENNANT HUMPHREYS

Award Year: 2011

Course: Social Science

Activities: Choral Scholars; Men’s Hockey Club

Occupation: Public Relations Consultant

One of the reasons I chose UCD, coming out of school, was because of the reputation of the UCD Choral Scholars. As a cocky 18 year old, I was not at all surprised to be offered the scholarship, but one minute into my first rehearsal I was traumatised by the talent that I had suddenly found myself surrounded by. I was out of my depth. However, when you find yourself in these situations you have to learn to swim and, after the initial jolt of realisation, the hours I spent rehearsing in Memorial Hall, performing across Ireland and the UK, and socialising with my fellow Scholars were some of the happiest of my life. I have been fortunate enough since graduating to have sung at four of my Choral Scholar friends’ weddings, two of whom married each other, and every time we reunite at such occasions or every year at Christmas it’s like no time has passed. It was and continues to be an absolute joy to spend time in the company of these tremendously warm, supportive, and vivacious people. They have excelled in areas as diverse as law, medicine, finance, technology, education, science, veterinary, fashion, engineering, business, entrepreneurship, and, of course, music. I think the values of discipline, hard work, and creativity instilled in them during their time in the choir have stood to them all.

I was also involved in the UCD Men’s Hockey Club. I loved wearing the St Patrick’s Blue and Saffron of UCD. My highs included seeing the First XI achieve the Club’s highest ever league finish; lows included breaking my nose three minutes into the Colours Tournament against Trinity. Not an especially talented player, with a bit of cajoling from my teammates, I threw myself into the administration of the Club. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to spend time with a truly special group of men who were determined to make themselves and UCD MHC the best it could be. They shed blood, sweat, and tears to achieve their ambitions. I hope they are all really proud of their achievements. I’m immensely proud of them.

Winning the President’s Award was a great surprise and honour. My sister, Megan, had won the Award the previous year for her exploits on and off the hockey pitch. (Hockey does get discussed around the dinner table.) She is my number one hero in life, so to be put in the same category was an amazing privilege. Our mother proudly displays our President’s Award medals side by side on the living room dresser.

LAURA TOOGOOD

Award Year: 2007

Course: Information Studies & Classics

Activities: University Observer; Fashion Show; Equestrian Club

Occupation: Founder of Fieldmaster Group; Author

I was once told that your university days are the best days of your life and nothing could be truer when it came to my time at Belfield. While lectures were an important part of college life, there was also so much more on offer than simply the chance to study.

Among my annual highlights was the Intervarsity National Equestrian Championships, which was held in a different – and usually remote – part of the country each year. We were a ferociously competitive club and lifted the trophy many times. This event was also a fantastic social occasion: fancy dress competitions were just as important as the dressage championships and you could bond with many fellow students from all walks of life over a pint of Guinness.

The same can be said for the legendary UCD Fashion Show, although the Guinness would be swapped for a trendy cocktail! During my time on campus, the Fashion Show would give any of the world’s major Fashion Weeks a run for their money, and it was the largest student fashion show in Europe. Nothing could quite compare to strutting down the catwalk at The Point in front of a crowd of 10,000 people, with paparazzi dazzling you with flashes at the end of the runway. There was a tremendous amount of camaraderie and the producer, Julian Benson, made all models feel like superstars.

Similarly, the University Observer provided a platform for aspiring journalists to write riveting features and interview some of the world’s most famous names. As Sports Editor, I had the privilege of interviewing Lions rugby star Brian O’Driscoll and Olympic medallist Derval O’Rourke. Both were former UCD students - there are few universities that can provide access to such distinguished sportspeople.

I initially enrolled at UCD for a three-year undergraduate degree but I loved it so much that I ended up staying for seven years and completed my PhD at Belfield as part of the Ad Astra Scholarship programme. I wish I could turn back time and do it all again. Those seven years were definitely some of the best of my life and it was a place where you really could reach to the stars.

“I initially enrolled at UCD for a three-year undergraduate degree but I loved it so much that I ended up staying for seven years and completed my PhD at Belfield”

JOHN TRAVERS

Award Year: 1995

Course: Engineering, Medicine

Activities: Engineering Society; Students’ Union; Class Representative

Occupation: Medical Doctor; Company Director

UCD breathed a new sense of endless possibility when I first went there in 1991 to study Engineering. It welcomed a vast gathering of students from all over the world, clambering their way across campus to class and to a new sense of self in the adult world. We were privileged with choice and anything was possible.

The engineers stood out I think. We were a give-away with our uniform of baggy, woollen jumpers. We gathered in exuberant groups outside Theatre A or the Physics and Chemistry Labs in the Science Block. We shuffled in droves from a long day’s lectures to the Library, the ‘Trap’, or the Student Bar. We played tearaway football on the field outside the Engineering Block in every weather.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we had lectures in Earlsfort Terrace. Up the granite steps, worn smooth by thousands of Engineering and Medical students before us, through the massive oak doors, and into the arms of an old theatre and new knowledge. Hartigan’s offered respite just around the corner.

Our 268 first year students were raucous, riotous, and out of hand at times. Stories of the mass singsongs and synchronised paper airplane throwing in Maths lectures spread wide and soon students from every other discipline came just to witness this. It wasn’t fair to the lecturer scribing word-for-word on an overhead projector acetate, but it reflected a metamorphic spirit of freedom and excitement. There was a sense of being on the road to something great. As UCD Engineers we might help design and build the world around us, and the structures and technology that support it. In the meantime we embraced every moment: studying hard and jumping headlong into extracurricular sport, student politics, volunteering, music, and making lifelong friends.

I co-founded the Engineering Society in 1993 with great friends - John McManus, Gearoid O’Rafferty and Mathew Jackson - and with a guiding hand from School Chaplain, Fr Kieran McDermott. We created a Society that could be a voice for all Engineers. It became a platform for spreading engineering student creativity in our new university home as the move of Engineering from the Terrace to Belfield was completed. I was delighted to hear of awards the Society won over subsequent years.

Two decades later, after a fulfilling career in international energy and founding two clean energy companies at NovaUCD, I followed a late vocation and came back to Belfield in 2012 as a graduate entry medical student, a ‘GEM’. This was a fantastic new four-year programme that brought people with graduate experience into the world of Medicine.

Much had changed at Belfield. The football field outside the Engineering Block had become a sculptured lake. The acetate scribing had been replaced by online lecture slides. The new Health Sciences Centre, Student Centre, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool filled the once sprawling car park beside the Physics Labs.

The camaraderie, support, and good humour among classmates were no less all these years later. Remarkably, the same overflowing spirit of possibility was ever present. As UCD Medics, we could help to grow and enhance the world of life within us, and the ethics and technology that support it. The UCD degree was a passport to the practice of caring medicine.

I believe the collective imprint of every single person that has studied or worked at UCD has created the spirit of possibility that endures. I think it is one of the University’s greatest legacies in our lives.

Editor: Eoghan Murphy

Design: Louise Flanagan

University College Dublin 2017