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.

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!