2023 Class Acts - UCD Connections

Martín Von Hildebrand

BSocSc 1968

Ethnologist and anthropologist, Dr Martín von Hildebrand, has spent his career leading efforts to secure indigenous territorial rights and the protection of the Amazon tropical forest in Colombia. Now 80, he is writing his memoirs and has handed over the day-to-day running of Gaia Amazonas, the NGO he founded to help the indigenous people to establish their own government, to the second of his three sons. He remains involved as an adviser

Tara McCarthy

MBS Marketing 1991

Tara McCarthy has been named Global Vice-President of Environmental Social and Corporate Governance at Alltech, a global leader in animal health and nutrition. Prior to joining Alltech, McCarthy was CEO of Bord Bia. McCarthy will have a key role in supporting Alltech’s vision of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™, which underscores the ability of the agri-food sector to provide enough nutritious food for all while revitalising local communities and replenishing the Earth’s natural resources

David Fennelly

BAgrSc 2020

David Fennelly, a full-time dairy farmer from Emo in Co. Laois, has been awarded a 2023 Nuffield Ireland Farming Scholarship, a travel and study bursary designed to promote agriculture and rural development through the promotion of awareness, education and leadership in the agriculture sector. Fennelly will use the bursary to explore alternative swards, inputs and grazing strategies which may provide solutions to the challenges facing pasture-based dairy farms.

Laura Costello

BA English and Philosophy 2013

Laura Costello, Strategy Director, Purpose & Planet at ThinkHouse, has been named by Forbes as one of 43 people changing advertising for the planet globally. A passionate climate advocate, last December, she presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action on behalf of Purpose Disruptors Ireland on the role the advertising industry can play in relation to achieving the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5 degree global warming target.

Margaret Berry

MSc Marketing Practice 2011

Margaret Berry has been appointed Head of Sustainability at food company Kepak Group, having previously held roles with Bord Bia and Kerry Group. Berry has designed and delivered modules in Global Food Business Strategy for UCD Smurfit Business School, and for the Leaders’ Sustainability Acceleration Programme, to build capability and climate literacy at board and management levels. She is also a board member of Gurteen Agricultural College, the largest farm in Ireland, and chair of its sustainability committee.

Siobhán Byrne Learat

BA Arabic and Spanish 1986, MA 1987, DipBS 1988, MBA 2003

Siobhán Byrne Learat’s Adams & Butler is a world leader in sustainable and responsible travel, with the support of local communities and their economies always to the forefront. Byrne Learat led the travel company through the pandemic so successfully that 2022 revenues were up 43% on 2019. Now she has been recognised with two prestigious awards: Condé Nast’s Travel Specialist 2022 and Travel + Leisure A-List Advisor 2023. The business plan for Adams & Butler was Byrne Learat’s MBA thesis.

Niamh O’Gorman

BE 1999

Accenture has announced the appointment of Niamh O’Gorman as Sustainability Lead for Accenture in Ireland. O’Gorman will take responsibility for shaping and delivering Accenture’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy locally, as well as supporting Accenture’s clients in the delivery of their ESG commitments. Niamh has been with Accenture for 22 years, and is a managing director in Accenture’s financial services practice, a role which she will continue with alongside her focus on the firm’s sustainability agenda.

Aoife Feeney

BAgrSc 2016, MAg Extension and Innovation 2021

As the recipient of a 2022 Nuffield Scholarship Award, Aoife Feeney travelled to Canada, Netherlands, UK, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia and Australia to undertake research on how to positively influence farmers on action for water quality. Now Agricultural Policy Officer of the Netherlands Embassy in Ireland, Feeney’s role includes public diplomacy, and bilateral communication and co-operation between the Netherlands and Ireland. She was previously Farm Sustainability Lead with Carbery Group

Colm Tóibín

BA 1975

Ireland’s Fiction Laureate and the Chancellor of Liverpool University continues to lecture at Columbia University in New York and last November published A Guest at the Feast, a collection of essays, many originally published in the London Review of Books. Topics range from the personal to the political, and reflect on the writer’s experience of growing up in Ireland, paedophile priests, his experience of cancer and the pleasures of visiting a deserted Venice during the pandemic.

Sheena Barrett

BA French and History of Art 1999, HDipAAdm 2000

Sheena Barrett has been appointed Head of Research & Learning at IMMA, having previously held roles at Dublin City Council, where she worked on the development of the LAB Gallery as a critical platform for emerging arts practice in Ireland, Breaking Ground Public Art Commissioning Programme, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland. An experienced curator, she will be supporting opportunities and connections at both local and global levels.

John Francis McCourt

BA English 1988, MA 1989, PhD 1997

Macerata University in Italy has appointed internationally renowned Joyce scholar John Francis McCourt as its Rector. McCourt, Dean of Humanities at the University, previously founded the Trieste Joyce School at Trieste University and is President of the International James Joyce Foundation and a board member of the International Yeats Summer School. His writings on Joyce include Consuming Joyce: 100 Years of Ulysses in Ireland, which was published by Bloomsbury last year.

Joseph M. Hassett and Teresa Lambe

MA 1982, PhD 1985 - BSc 1997, PhD 2002

At a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin in December 2022, President Michael D. Higgins presented the 2022 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards. The Awards are presented by the President every year, in recognition of the service given to this country, or to Irish communities abroad, by those who live outside Ireland. Joseph M. Hassett, scholar of Irish literature, received his award for services to Arts, Culture and Sport in the US. Professor Teresa Lambe of the Oxford Vaccine Group received her award for services to Science, Technology and Innovation in the UK. The Awards were created in 2011 as a means to recognise the contribution of members of the Irish diaspora.

Charleen Hurtubise

MFA in Creative Writing 2016

US-born Hurtubise published her first novel, The Polite Act of Drowning, in April. Part coming-of-age drama, part exploration of inherited trauma, the novel draws on Hurtubise’s own tough childhood in Michigan. She first arrived in Ireland 25 years ago to hitchhike around the country with a friend. She met and married an Irish man and lives in Dublin. Now a fluent Irish speaker, she works as a primary school teacher.

Sarah Gilmartin

MA 2011, MFA in Creative Writing 2019

In May, Sarah Gilmartin published her second novel, Service, endorsed by Joseph O’Connor, to universally positive reviews. A regular contributor to the Irish Times, Gilmartin’s follow-up to Dinner Party is set in the world of fine dining and told in three different voices – the celebrity chef, the waitress who accuses him of raping her, and the chef’s wife. A #MeToo story set in the restaurant industry.

Aoife Fitzpatrick

MFA in Creative Writing 2019

In 2020, Aoife Fitzpatrick won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, which aims to help undiscovered female authors launch their careers. This led to her debut novel, The Red Bird Sings, being acquired by Virago earlier this year. Based on a real-life trial in West Virginia in 1897, it is described as a feminist gothic ghost story. Fitzpatrick featured on the Irish Times’ list of debut authors to watch in 2023 and the book was named the Sunday Times ‘Best Historical Fiction Book of 2023’.

Aingeala Flannery

MFA in Creative Writing 2019

Aingeala Flannery’s debut novel, The Amusements, was named Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year at Listowel Writers’ Week 2023. Flannery, an award-winning broadcaster and journalist, completed the novel during her MFA in Creative Writing at UCD School of English, Drama and Film. Published by Penguin imprint Sandycove, the novel is an exploration of life in the seaside town of Tramore, following the lives of two families and their neighbours over three decades.

Declan Toohey

MFA in Creative Writing 2022

Toohey won the 2021 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, resulting in the publication of his first novel earlier this year. Perpetual Comedown, published by New Island, tells of a PhD student experiencing a mental breakdown as he tries to interpret an elaborate conspiracy: the existence of an alternative Ireland. Toohey recently signed with agent to the (literary) stars, Peter Straus, who also represents Colm Tóibín. He also featured on the Irish Times’ 2023 list of debut authors.

Sally Hayden

BCL 2012

Author, journalist and photographer Sally Hayden’s harrowing and important account of the Mediterranean refugee crisis, My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route, won the An Post Irish Book of the Year Award 2022, and was awarded both the The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2022 and The Michel Déon Prize 2022. It also featured on the Best of 2022 lists in the Financial Times, Kirkus, the New Yorker and the Guardian.

Lauren Mackenzie

MA 2018

This July, Australian writer Lauren Mackenzie published her debut novel, The Couples with John Murray. Described as a compelling, moving and totally believable account of three married couples and the fallout from one wild night out, The Couples has already been optioned for a television series. Before her publishing debut, Mackenzie was an established screenwriter with credits on Red Rock, Fair City and The Clinic on her CV. She lives in Dublin.

Disha Bose

MA 2016

Disha Bose was raised in India and now lives in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. She worked in the tech industry before turning to writing. Her debut novel, Dirty Laundry, published by Viking earlier this year, tells the story of three suburban mothers whose secrets and lies lead to the murder of one of them. Reviews have been good, with the Irish Times noting that “Dirty Laundry undoubtedly establishes Bose as an exciting new voice in commercial fiction”.

Joseph O’Connor

BA English and History 1984

Joseph O’Connor is no slouch when it comes to selling books, and his latest novel, My Father’s House, has featured consistently in the bestseller charts since its publication earlier this year. The literary thriller tells the story of an Irish priest in the Vatican during WWII who smuggles resistance fighters, POWs and Jews to safety right under the noses of the Nazis. O’Connor’s novel was inspired by the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.

Claudia Carroll

BComm 1988

Claudia Carroll is one of the best-known names in Irish commercial fiction and this year published her 18th novel, The Love Algorithm, about two women who set up a dating app, based on her own experiences of dating. Carroll’s formidable work ethic means that she publishes a book most years, combining writing with her long-running role as Nicola Prendergast in RTÉ’s Fair City. She has sold more than half a million books in the UK alone.

Jessica Traynor

MA 2008

The Center for Irish Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota has awarded Jessica Traynor the 27th Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry. The only prize of its type in the world, the O’Shaughnessy Award is granted to a poet resident in Ireland who makes a significant contribution to the country’s cultural landscape. Traynor is an inaugural Creative Fellow of UCD and the 2023 Arts Council writer-in-residence at Galway University.

Deirdre Brennan

BA English and Latin 1955, HDip in Ed 1956

In May, Deirdre Brennan, a bilingual writer of poetry, short stories and drama, who turns 90 next year, won the Farmgate Café National Poetry Award at the Cork International Poetry Festival for her collection Medea’s Cauldron, published by Arlen House. Brennan, who grew up in Co. Tipperary and followed her BA with a Higher Diploma in Education, has previously published 16 books, including 12 collections of poetry in Irish and English.

Gavin McCrea

BA English and French 1999, MA 2001

In 2022, having previously published two novels, Berlinbased Gavin McCrea published Cells: Memories for My Mother, a memoir structured around his return to live with his mother in Ireland during lockdown. Among the topics covered by McCrea in his memoir are his diagnosis with HIV, the homophobic abuse he has suffered, and family trauma, including his brother’s drug abuse and mental health issues. It’s a harrowing but ultimately very rewarding read.

Niamh Ennis

BA English and Philosophy 1989

In a short space of time, Niamh Ennis lost her fiancé, father and mother and her life imploded. Rather than wallow, she gave up her steady, pensionable job, moved to Spain for a year and retrained as a transformational coach. Now she teaches others to leave victimhood behind and create the lives they want for themselves. Her debut book, the resolutely unsentimental Get Unstuck: Ditch Your Drama and Move from Pain to Power, is rooted in her personal experience.

Wolfgang Marx

GradDip 2012, ProfDip 2022

The Society for Musicology in Ireland has named Dr Wolfgang Marx as its President-Elect. The distinguished music scholar from UCD School of Music, who has been a member of the musicology body since its establishment in the early 2000s, will serve as SMI President from 2024 to 2027. Dr Marx is an inaugural UCD Innovation Fellow and has served as the Head of UCD School of Music on three occasions.

Barry Devlin

BA 1968, MA 1969

Musician and screenwriter Barry Devlin has been honoured with the Legend Award at the Northern Ireland Music Prize. The award, given in recognition of a significant contribution to the world of music, was presented at a prize ceremony in the Ulster Hall in Belfast last November. Devlin is best-known as a member of Horslips, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in December with the release of a special CD box set, ‘More Than You Can Chew’.

Gregory Harrington

BComm 1997

Earlier this year, awardwinning Irish violinist and international pedagogue Gregory Harrington played at Carnegie Hall in New York. That would be a career highlight for any professional musician, but it was Harrington’s fifth appearance at that hallowed auditorium, coming 20 years after the first. Based in New York, Harrington has performed all over the world as a soloist with many orchestras and is a sought-after keynote speaker and teacher.

David Burke

BA English and History of Art 1998, MA Film Studies 1999

David Burke has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at the Portland-based Oscar-winning feature film animation studio, LAIKA. Named after the Russian space dog who was one of the first animals to orbit the earth, the studio has produced movies such as Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, Missing Link and Wildwood. Burke is also in charge of LAIKA’s live

Brendan Gleeson

BA English and Irish 1978, HDip in Ed 1979

In Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Brendan Gleeson plays Colm Doherty, who suddenly decides to end a long friendship with Pádraic Súilleabháin, played by Colin Farrell. The themes of isolation, loneliness and the complex relationships that exist between men resonated with audiences around the world and Gleeson’s powerful performance was recognised with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Evelyn Cusack

BSc 1979, MSc 1984

Meteorologist Evelyn Cusack retired earlier this year as Head of Forecasting at RTÉ, a role she held since 1981. The face of weather forecasting on Irish television screens since 1988, Cusack utilised her public recognition to promote careers in STEM for women and girls. Her down-to-earth style, ability to explain clearly the science of meteorology and her willingness to apologise when the forecast got things wrong made her a hugely popular broadcaster.

Eileen Dunne

BA 1978, HDip in Ed 1980

Journalist and presenter Eileen Dunne retired from RTÉ after a career with the national broadcaster spanning 42 years. Best known as the presenter of the evening news, Dunne started in RTÉ as a part-time continuity announcer in 1984, reading the sports results on The Sunday Game while many of the regular staff were away at the Los Angeles Olympics, before going on to co-present the Nine O’Clock News with Anne Doyle.

Conor McPherson

BA English and Philosophy 1991, MA 1994

For many, the live performance highlight of 2023 will be Tales from the Holywell, written by and starring Damien Dempsey and directed by Conor McPherson. The show premiéred at The Abbey in January and is a reflection in words, music and song on growing up in Donaghmede and a career in music. McPherson celebrated the 25th anniversary of his multi-award-winning play, The Weir, with a new staging of the play at The Abbey.

Hannah Doherty

BAgrSc 2016

Hannah Doherty is one of four women farmers featured in TG4’s Mná na Talún, a four-part series giving an insight into the reality of life on an Irish farm. Doherty grew up on a farm, and graduated from one of the first Ag Science classes with an even split of men and women. She works as a beef and sheep adviser for the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland and runs Cornamount Farm in Co. Donegal with her husband, Tommy.

Gavin Drea

BA English and Film Studies 2011

Based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Read, Daisy Jones and the Six is one of Amazon Prime’s most-watched mini-series this year. Gavin Drea stars in the story of the eponymous fictional band as villain Nicky Fitzpatrick alongside a cast that includes Riley Keough as Daisy Jones and Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne. Drea’s acting career began in UCD’s Dramsoc when he landed a small part in a Shakespeare play during his first year in college. He never looked back.

Liam O’Fhloinn And Emma Ní Lochlainn

MVB 1998 - MVB 2017

Liam O’Fhloinn, an equine vet, and Emma Ní Lochlainn, who specialises in small animals, featured in the RTÉ Irish language series, Saol an Tréidlia (Life of a Vet). The four-part observational documentary took viewers into the heart of communities, following the challenges vets face in dealing with a range of unpredictable and emotional cases and making decisions which impact animals and owners alike.

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly

BCL 1986, MEqualS 1995

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly currently a judge of the Court of Appeal, has been nominated for appointment by the President to the Supreme Court. Ms Justice Donnelly was appointed a High Court judge in 2014 and appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2019

Mr Justice Charles Meenan

BCL 1980, BA Politics 1981, DipEurL 1983

Mr Justice Charles Meenan is currently a High Court judge, that has been nominated for appointment by the President to the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice Meenan was called to the Bar in 1980, became a senior counsel in 1998 and was appointed to the High Court in 2017.

Ms Justice Tara Burns

BCL 1993)

Ms Justice Tara Burns is currently a High Court judge, that has been nominated for appointment by the President to the Court of Appeal. Ms Justice Tara Burns, was called to the Bar in 1995 and became a senior counsel in 2013. She was appointed a judge of the High Court in June 2018, and assigned to the Special Criminal Court later that year.

Ms Justice Nuala Butler

BCL 1984, LLM 1989

Ms Justice Nuala Butler has also been nominated for appointment to the Court of
Appeal. Ms Justice Butler was called to the Bar in 1986 and took silk in 2003. She has been a judge of the High Court since 2020.

Rossa Fanning

BCL 1997, LLM 2000

Rossa Fanning has been appointed Attorney General. At UCD, he was Auditor of the Law Society and later a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan. He graduated first in his class at King’s Inns in 1999, thereby earning himself the John Brooke Scholarship, and became a Senior Counsel in 2016. At the Bar, he specialised in commercial litigation and has had a successful career, representing many of the biggest names in Irish corporate life.

Síofra O’Leary

BCL 1989

Ms Justice Síofra O’Leary has taken up the Presidency of the European Court of Human Rights, having been a Judge of the Court since 2015. She is the first female president of the Court. The Court is responsible for ensuring the observance by the contracting parties of their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols. The President is elected by the plenary Court by secret ballot for a period of three years.

Matthew Lynch

BA French and Politics 2007, MBA 2020

Matthew Lynch has been appointed special adviser to the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. A former Head of Policy and Research for Fine Gael, Lynch was also previously special adviser to Frances Fitzgerald when Tánaiste and Minister for Justice & Equality and, subsequently, Business, Enterprise & Innovation; and for both Simon Coveney when Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, and for Leo Varadkar when he was Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment.

Anne Marie Caulfield

BComm 1995, MBA 1999

Anne Marie Caulfield has been appointed the new CEO Designate of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. The appointment of Caulfield marks a significant development in the reform of gambling laws in Ireland – she will be the first dedicated regulator appointed in Ireland to oversee the regulation of betting and gaming (excluding the National Lottery).

Dave McInerney

PhD 2016

Dr Dave McInerney has retired from An Garda Síochána after 43 years. The force’s longest serving member, he was Head of the Garda Racial, Intercultural and Diversity Unit from 2001 to 2019, and pioneered strategy for policing a multicultural Ireland, building relations between minority communities and AGS. He is also a lecturer and a published author.

Paul Kelly

BComm 1988

Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland, has been appointed to the voluntary non-executive role of Chair of the Board of The National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI). Like 55,000 people in Ireland with sight loss, Kelly has a visual impairment. Chris White, CEO of NCBI, welcomed the appointment of a chair of Kelly’s calibre with personal experience of the condition.

John Logue

BCL 2012

John Logue has been appointed CEO of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI). Logue previously held senior leadership positions in several well-known Irish nonprofit organisations including Suas, USI and DLDC. Additionally, he has advised over 40 social enterprises across Ireland on how to enhance their impact and financial sustainability.

Daithí de Róiste

BA History 2008

Daithí de Róiste has been elected the 355th Lord Mayor of Dublin. The Fianna Fáil councillor from Ballyfermot was elected to Dublin City Council in 2014 and re-elected in 2019. De Róiste has been active in his community for many years leading first aid groups, supporting Irish language youth clubs and GAA clubs, serving on the board of a local school, and campaigning on local issues. He is the honorary President of Ballyfermot United.

Niamh Lenehan

BAgrSc 2002

Niamh Lenehan has been appointed CEO designate of An Rialálaí Agraibhia, a new State regulatory body that will examine commercial relationships between food producers, processors and retailers. Under mechanisms provided for in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill, the Regulator can examine and make recommendations on any aspect of the agri-food supply chain, including the collection and analysis of price and market data to improve transparency and address information gaps in the supply chain.

Oonagh Buckley

Prof Dip, 2016, 2017, MSc Business 2018

Barrister Oonagh Buckley has been appointed secretary-general of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Ms Buckley previously served as interim chair of An Bord Pleanála, deputy secretarygeneral in the Department of Justice with responsibility for civil law, and director-general in the Workplace Relations Commission. Before that she worked in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as well as in the Department of the Environment and Department of Foreign Affairs

Orla Hardiman

BSc 1980, MB BCh BAO 1983, MD 1992

The HRB 2023 Impact Award went to Professor Orla Hardiman, National Clinical Lead Neurologist at the HSE, for her research into neurodegenerative conditions. Professor Hardiman helps those with chronic neurological disease and provides clinical services for Motor Neurone Disease. She played a key role in establishing the national centre for MND at Beaumont Hospital, widely regarded as a centre of excellence.

Sally Ann Lynch

BSc Radiography 2014

Consultant Geneticist Professor Sally Ann Lynch has been recognised with the inaugural Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI) Research Impact Award. Professor Lynch, of CHI at Temple Street and Crumlin, and UCD School of Medicine, identified several rare disease genes and new clinical presentations for rare diseases. The discovery of the LARS gene, associated with a failure to thrive in babies, is very relevant due to Ireland’s highest per capita occurrence in the world.

Mick Molloy

MB BCh BAO 1994

Dr Mick Molloy, a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Wexford General Hospital, was recognised with the annual Alumni Achievement award from the Disaster Medicine Fellowship program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians. The Alumni Achievement award is given annually to one of over 100 alumni selected by the faculty and was presented at the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine biannual congress.

Yvonne Gilleece

MB BCh BAO 1993

Professor Yvonne Gilleece has been appointed Chair of the British HIV Association (BHIVA), the leading UK association representing professionals in HIV care which is committed to providing excellent care for people with HIV. Professor Gilleece is Honorary Clinical Professor and Consultant in HIV Medicine & Sexual Health at Brighton & Sussex Medical School and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. She is an international leader on HIV, specialising in HIV in women.

Lara McManus

BE 2011, PhD 2016

Dr Lara McManus, Research Assistant Professor at the Academic Unit of Neurology at Trinity College Dublin, has received UK Motor Neurone Disease Association funding to develop treatment of Motor Neurone Disease. Earlier this year, she was also awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. Her latest project combines High Density Surface electromyography with electroencephalography to examine neuroelectric signalling between the brain and motor neurons.

Fardod O’Kelly

GradDip 2016, EMBA 2022

Dr Fardod O’Kelly, Consultant Paediatric and Adolescent Urological Surgeon at Beacon Hospital and UPMC Kildare, won the MBA Student of the Year Award 2022/2023 at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards in London. Dr O’Kelly continued to practise medicine throughout his Executive MBA studies, developing his surgical practice and a new public-private partnership to facilitate access to surgery for children in the west/south of Ireland.

Brona Fullen

HDipHC 2002, PhD 2008, MSc 2013, ProfDip 2016

Dr Brona Fullen, Associate Professor, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, an expert in pain management, was awarded an International Service Award for Research at the World Physiotherapy Congress 2023 in Dubai. The award recognises her outstanding contribution to physiotherapy at an international level. Dr Fullen is President of the European Pain Federation.

Peter Halligan

BA Philosophy and Psychology 1979, MA 1982, HDip in Ed 1982, DipPsych 1984

Professor Peter Halligan has been awarded a CBE by King Charles III for services to neuropsychology research and science in government. An internationally renowned neuroscientist, he played a key role in many research breakthroughs at Cardiff University before being appointed Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales in 2018. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Cathy Farrell

Prof Cert in Heart Failure Nursing 2019, Grad Cert in Advanced Practice 2021

Advanced Nurse Practioner Cathy Farrell presented at Heart Failure 2023 in Prague, the Annual Congress of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The event covers the entire spectrum of heart failure, from prevention to diagnosis and treatment. Her subject was the Impact of the Advanced Nurse PractitionerLed Community Heart Failure Service in Co. Donegal.

Eoin Morrissey

MSc Sport Management 2015

Eoin Morrissey has been appointed as Waterford City and County Council’s Healthy City and County Coordinator. A keen hurler with a long family tradition of GAA involvement, in a former community development role at Croke Park, Morrissey ran a national health and wellbeing programme called ‘Going Well’ in which over 260 schools, all over the country, now participate. This new role is about encouraging people to become more active.

Fiona Steed

MSc Neuromusculoskeletal Physiotherapy 2008

Fiona Steed has been appointed Chief Health and Social Care Professional (HSCP) Officer with the HSE, representing 26 different professions. Steed has spent 30 years working in the health sector, initially as a physiotherapist in the UK and more recently as an inclusive leader on pivotal projects across ULHG and the Mid-West, including the new Geriatric Emergency Medicine Unit which opened last year

Donal Bailey

EMBA 2017

A practising physician with clinical and senior management experience, Dr Donal Bailey has been appointed CEO of CareConnect, a new partnership between Centric Health, Ireland’s largest primary care network, and Irish Life Health. Care-Connect aims to change how healthcare is delivered, supporting patients to take control of their own healthcare via data-driven primary healthcare services.

Pat Guiry

BSc 1986, PhD 1990

Professor Pat Guiry has been elected the 58th President of the RIA. Professor Guiry is Professor of Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the UCD School of Chemistry and Director of the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology. Elected to the RIA in 2013, he was Science Secretary from 2016 to 2020, and a member of the Executive Policy and Oversight Committees.

Gráinne de Búrca

BCL 1986

Professor Gráinne de Búrca is an Irish legal scholar specialising in European Union law, and the Florence Ellinwood Allen Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law.

John Walsh

BSc 1980

A founding Director of the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences, and member of the Sustainable GeoEnergy Research Group, Professor John Walsh is a professor at UCD’s School of Earth Sciences.

Danny McCoy

MEconSc 1988

Danny McCoy is Chief Executive Officer of Ibec. He has held academic positions at DCU, University College London, University of Oxford and TCD. McCoy received a knighthood from Italy for services to the European economy and business.

Katy Hayward

PhD 2002

Katy Hayward is Professor of Political Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast and is known for her work on the impact of Brexit.

Paul Shew

MIE 2001, MBA 2002

US-based global private transportation and defence corporation Cubic has appointed Paul Shew President of Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS), its defence arm. CMPS provides communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance training solutions for both US and allied forces. Shew will lead the strategic vision for CMPS while continuing to drive performance for the company’s existing customers and partners.

Paul O’Callaghan

BE 1994

After more than 17 years with aircraft leasing company Aircastle, Paul O’Callaghan, who graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, has been appointed Chief Operations Officer. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has offices in Singapore and Dublin, where O’Callaghan is based. According to its most recent report, Aircastle owns and manages 248 aircrafts leased to 73 lessees located in 44 countries around the world. Its fleet is valued at $6.92bn.

Sósanna Ni Dhubháin

BE 2009

Sósanna Ni Dhubháin has been promoted to Lead Brake Duct Engineer with the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team in Silverstone. After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCD, Ní Dhubháin studied Motorsport Engineering and Management at Cranfield University and started her career in F1 with Team Lotus. She has also worked with Caterham F1 and the Sahara Force India F1 Team. She is keen to encourage other young women to consider an engineering career in F1.

Edmond Harty

PhD in Biosystems

Engineering 2002 Dr Edmond Harty has been inaugurated as the 131st President of Engineers Ireland, which represents over 25,000 engineers across all disciplines. He is the founder of Innovalogix, an investment and consultancy firm focusing on strategy and product development. Dr Harty, who describes engineers as “natural problem solvers”, was previously CEO and largest shareholder of Dairymaster, the world-leading dairy innovation and technology company he built and led for 22 years

Niamh Donnelly

MSc Computer Science 2018

Niamh Donnelly, co-founder of Akara Robotics, was awarded a Rising Women Innovator Award by The European Innovation Council. The robotics and AI company has built an autonomous desinfection robot powered by AI to improve hospital cleaning. The award will enable Akara to deploy its robots in more hospitals to be integrated into cleaning routines. Donnelly’s mission is to reduce hospital infections and boost service capacity through Akara’s innovative solutions.

Patricia Scanlon

PhD 2005

Dr Patricia Scanlon, Ireland’s first AI Ambassador, founded the Dublin-based edtech SoapBox Labs in 2013. The company, which uses deep learning and AI to develop accurate and safe voice technology for children, has expanded into the US where it is the first edtech company to receive the Prioritizing Racial Equity in AI Design product certification for mitigating against racial bias. SoapBox Labs’ products treat all children’s voices equally, regardless of accent, age, race or socioeconomic background.

Donnchadh Casey

BE 2003, MEngSc 2006, MBA 2012

Donnchadh Casey has been appointed Chief Customer Officer at Qualtrics, the experience management platform, where he is responsible for ensuring the company’s 18,000+ customers globally derive value from their XM Programs and Qualtrics Technology & Services. In March, Qualtrics announced that it will be acquired by Silver Lake and the Canadian Pension Plan investment board in a deal worth $12.5bn. The company recently opened its new 500-person EMEA headquarters in Dublin city centre.

Favour Ochonma

BSc Paediatric Nursing 2023

During the final year of her nursing degree, Favour Ochonma was selected as the winner of the nationwide MyEU50 third-level competition for her speech ‘From Hope to Prosperity: Celebrating the EU’s 50-Year Impact on Ireland and Beyond’. The Co. Meath woman, born in Ireland to immigrant parents, said the EU had fought for refugee rights and anti-discrimination to create “a world where all are treated with equal consideration”.

Deirdre McCarthy

MA Politics 2006

Deirdre McCarthy has been appointed to the role of Managing Director, RTÉ News & Current Affairs, managing news output across multiple platforms. She is the first woman to hold the position and will join the RTÉ Executive Board. Previously, McCarthy was Managing Editor of Regions and Radio News programmes, politics and business coverage, steering the growth of programmes such as Morning Ireland, News at One and This Week.

Daniel McConnell

BA History and Politics 2000

Daniel McConnell has been appointed Editor of the Business Post. McConnell had been political editor of the Irish Examiner since 2015, and is the current Newsbrands Ireland National Journalist of the Year and Political Journalist of the Year. In his new role, Daniel McConnell is responsible for creating a multimedia content strategy, accelerating the brand’s digital growth and protecting the core print product, using data insights to build audiences.

Niall McLaughlin

BArch 1984

After being shortlisted on three occasions, Niall McLaughlin has won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture for a new library at Magdalene College, Cambridge. The judges described the brick building with its tiered timber interior as “exquisitely detailed … sophisticated architecture that has been built to last”. Closer to home, McLaughlin’s International Rugby Experience in Limerick, the design of which features visual references to the game it celebrates, has opened to the public.

Mary Laheen, Joseph Mackey and Peter Carroll

(BArch 1981, MUBC 2005) - (BArch 2010) - BArch 1995

School of Architecture, along with Peter Cody and Elizabeth Hatz, were selected by Culture Ireland to curate Ireland’s exhibition at the 2023 Venice Biennale Architettura. The Irish Pavilion, entitled ‘In Search of Hy-Brasil’, presents fieldwork from Ireland’s remote islands, investigating their diverse cultures, communities, and experiences and offering an immersive experience that draws connections between their social fabric, cultural landscape and ecology. The Venice Biennale Architettura offers Irish architects the opportunity to engage with an international audience and influence future trends in architecture.

Fiona Flannery

Prof Dip 2015, MSc 2016

Fiona Flannery has joined PFS Card Services (Ireland) Ltd, a member of the EML Payments Group, as CEO, and will lead its pan-European business. The payment solutions platform uses agile technology to power the payment process, enabling money to be moved quickly, conveniently and securely. A senior banker with over 20 years experience in the industry, Flannery was previously Chief Executive Officer of DEPFA Bank.

Dermot O’Shea and Ronan Quinlan

BSc 1996 - BComm 1997

Dermot O’Shea and Ronan Quinlan have sold a majority stake in their business, Taoglas, to US private equity group Graham Partners. The deal values the company at around $200m. Taoglas, founded in 2004, has $100m in annual revenue from antenna and radio frequency components that can be used in highaccuracy location tracking for driverless vehicles, in precision agriculture and in healthcare.

Kerry McLaverty

EMBA 2017

Kerry McLaverty, CEO of LauraLynn, Ireland’s only children’s hospice, won the MBA Leadership Award 2022/23 at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards in London. McLaverty has overseen record fundraising revenues for LauraLynn and secured a historic €1.5m in annual statutory funding, which has enabled the expansion of hospice services and the development of the first Children’s Hospice Regional Hub in Ireland.

Patrick Joy

BE 1974

Suretank founder and EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013, Patrick Joy, has bought back a two-thirds stake in the company he sold a decade ago. Suretank, which has operations in Ireland, the UK and Thailand, supplies specialised storage equipment with the focus shifting from offshore oil and gas, to the pharmaceutical, high-tech, life sciences, renewable energy, and data-centre sectors.

Anne O’Leary

Prof Dip 2022

Former Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O’Leary has been appointed to the role of head of Meta Ireland. She will work with the leadership team at Meta Ireland on matters relating to the Irish office, governance and implementation of the company’s future strategy and will continue in the role of Vice-President of Meta’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and global business group, which she took up last year. O’Leary is a board member of Ibec, ESRI and Greencore Group.

Gerry Murphy

MBS 1983

Gerry Murphy has been appointed chair of Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket. Murphy also chairs luxury brand Burberry and was previously chair of Tate & Lyle. He formerly served as a non-executive director for British American Tobacco, Merlin Entertainments and Reckitt Benckiser. He also ran Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, as well as Greencore and Carlton Communications

Barry Connolly

BComm 1981

Barry Connolly, the founder of Fulfil Nutrition, has been named Irish Times Business Person of the Year. Last year, he sold the business for a reported €160m to familyowned confectionery giant, Ferrero. In his early career, after graduating from UCD, he worked in newspaper advertising sales for The Sunday Tribune, and went on to bring Red Bull and Kopparberg Cider to the Irish market. He launched Fulfil in 2016.

Conor Pierce

BComm 1992, MBS 1994

Former head of Samsung UK and Ireland, Conor Pierce, has been appointed President of Samsung Electronics in Poland, where the company has a 30% leading market share. He took up the role at the company at the end of last year. Pierce is only the second non-Korean to head the Poland division and joined Samsung from a similar position at Nokia in 2015 where he was VicePresident of the IT & Mobile division for the UK and Ireland markets.

Peter Lantry

BE 1998, MMgtSc 2000, MBA 2008

Peter Lantry has been appointed Managing Director of American multinational digital infrastructure company Equinix, which has 278 data centres on five continents. Lantry will lead sustainability initiatives to help the company become carbon neutral by 2030. Lantry was previously MD in Ireland of Hitachi Energy and its global data centre lead. In this role, he had a focus on developing sustainable energy options for the data centre industry.

Jan Ullmann

MBA 2018

Jan Ullmann has been appointed to the role of Renewals Geo Lead at Cloud Software Group. The US software company has more than 100 million users around the world. An experienced sales professional based in Dublin, Ullmann previously worked with Citrix in Dublin and PTC in Barcelona and combines extensive experience in the IT sector with strong language and intercultural skills. In his new role, Ullmann is responsible for the territories of Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

July Nguyen Tran

MSc Food Business Strategy 2021

July Nguyen Tran and her fiancé Brian Codd, who met in Vietnam, are the co-founders of Noush Coffee & Co, a new food start-up serving coffee from Wicklow roastery, Never a Day’s Trouble. The food truck, which opened over the summer, is based at Ferrybank outside Wexford town and serves everything from iced Vietnamese coffees and Vietnamese summer rolls to sushi rolls and Korean kimbap. Tran was responsible for the design and layout of the custom-fitted truck.

Jacqueline Robinson

EMBA 2015

Jacqueline Robinson has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at the Beacon Hospital. A pharmacist, Robinson moved into healthcare management and has significant experience in strategic service planning, project management and financial planning, plus strong communications and negotiation skills. Robinson previously held the role of General Manager of St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network of St Luke’s Hospital, St James’s Hospital and Beaumont Hospital.

Jim O’Toole

BAgrSc 1989, MAgrSc 1992

Jim O’Toole has been appointed CEO of Bord Bia, the state agency which supports farmers and growers and brings Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture produce to the world. Previously, O’Toole was CEO of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency. He has over 20 years experience in the agri-food sector, having worked in global food marketing and sustainability development in previous senior positions at Bord Bia.

John Jordan

MSc(Agr) 1994

John Jordan is CEO of Ornua, Ireland’s first €1bn food company, named Company of the Year in the Business & Finance Awards 2022. Ornua began as a government agency tasked with the marketing of Irish dairy products; its first CEO was Sir Anthony O’Reilly. Jordan first joined the company as a graduate trainee and during the pandemic he successfully navigated global challenges to ensure that the company continued to thrive.

Cliodhna Lyons

BE 2001, PhD 2005

Cliodhna Lyons has worked with Nissan Motor Corporation for over 17 years and was recently appointed to the role of Vice-President of Products and Services Planning for Europe, Middle East, Africa, India and Oceania. Based in Paris, Lyons’ background as a mechanical engineer underpins her work as a Global Product Strategist. Lyons says her personal priority is to accelerate Nissan Motor Corporation’s shift to carbon neutrality via sustainable product definition.

Stephen McNamara

MBA 2019

Stephen McNamara has been appointed CEO of Paralympics Ireland, which is responsible for preparing and managing the Irish team at the Paralympic Games, held every four years in parallel with the Olympic Games. McNamara joins Paralympics Ireland from the Irish Rugby Football Union. Previously, McNamara worked at Ryanair as Head of Communications and before that at KPMG.

Billy Murphy

BComm 1982, Higher Diploma in Marketing Practice, Marketing and Communications, 1983

Billy Murphy, Executive Chair of Drury Communications, has been elected the 103rd President of Leinster Branch of the IRFU. A member of UCD RFC since 1978, Murphy played and captained the freshman team, before taking on a coaching role with the Club for three seasons. Murphy was Club President in 2005/06

Noreen Maguire

BA English and Philosophy 1992, MA 1993

Noreen Maguire, who captained UCD Ladies Boat Club during her time at university, has been appointed to Rowing Ireland’s board, where she will represent the Leinster region on the governing body. Maguire is a member of UCD’s Old Collegians Boat Club. Maguire is the principal in Maguire Muldoon Solicitors.

Ciara Mageean

BSc Physiotherapy 2017

Olympian Ciara Mageean took the silver medal in 2022 in both the Women’s 1500m at the European Athletics Championships and the Brussels Diamond League, where she broke the national 1500m record previously held by Sonia O’Sullivan. Mageean also smashed the Irish women’s mile record in July 2023. She was named Athlete of the Year at the 123. ie National Athletics Awards.

Michael O’Sullivan, Katie O’Brien and Fearghal Kerin

BAgrSc 2022 - MVB 2020 - BSc 2010

Jockey Michael O’Sullivan (BAgrSc 2022) won the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on day one at Cheltenham 2023 on Marine Nationale, beating the bookies’ favourite, Facile Vega. | Katie O’Brien (MVB 2020) won gold in the Para Women’s Single Sculls at the Rowing World Championships in Račice, Czech Republic in December 2022. | Fearghal Kerin (BSc 2010), who previously worked with Leinster Rugby, has been appointed to the role of physiotherapist at Chelsea FC.

Kelli O’Keeffe

BSc 2004

Kelli O’Keeffe was named one of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport by Sport for Business. She is Managing Director of the Sport Sponsorship division at Teneo Ireland and one of the most senior advisers working across the business of sport in Ireland

Jonathan Sexton

BComm 2012

Rugby player Jonathan Sexton became the highest points scorer in the history of the Six Nations Championship and captained Ireland to a 15th Championship win, 13th Triple Crown and fourth Grand Slam.

Louise Quinn

BSc Sports and Exercise Management 2011

Footballer Louise Quinn earned her 100th senior cap in an international friendly against Morocco in 2022. Louise played with Arsenal before joining Fiorentina in Italy in 2020 and has now returned to the UK to join Birmingham City. She represented Ireland at the 2023 World Cup in Australia

Feidhlim Kelly

BSc Sports Management 2004

Feidhlim Kelly Coached three Olympians in Tokyo 2021, and five athletes, including Mark English, bronze medal winner of the 800m, at the 2022 European Championships in August 2022. Kelly is founder and head coach of the Dublin Track Club, established in 2016 to create an elite training group for aspiring athletes.

Sinéad Goldrick

BSocSc 2011

Dual-code footballer Sinéad Goldrick helped the Melbourne Demons to victory over the Brisbane Lions in the AFLW Premiership final in Queensland. The victory meant Goldrick became the first Irish woman to win both senior All-Ireland Gaelic football and Australian football titles. She previously played for Dublin.

David Campbell

BSc 2014

Former UCD Ad Astra Elite Athlete Scholar, 800m AAI Champion and physiotherapist David Campbell has established Track Town Performance and Rehabilitation Clinic in Eugene, Oregon where he treats Olympic medallists, Olympians, junior athletes, octogenarians and everyone in between.

Ed Farrell

BE 1991, MEngSc 1993

Ed Farrell, with 25 years’ experience working in life sciences in the US, UK and Switzerland, has been appointed CEO of Lex Diagnostics in Cambridge, England. The company is working to bring five-minute PCR technology to market and aims to improve patient care worldwide with its innovative thermocycling technology, which will revolutionise point-of-care molecular diagnostics and open the door to affordable syndromic testing by delivering results to clinicians within an appointment.

Sandra Davern

PhD 1999

Dr Sandra Davern, a scientist from the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Davern leads the Radioisotope Research and Development Section in the Radioisotope Science and Technology Division at ORNL. Her research focuses on advancing the use of radioisotopes for medical applications, including targeted therapy for cancer treatment.

Tommy Boland

BAgrSc 2001, PhD 2005

UCD Professor Tommy Boland has been appointed as Co-Chair of the Livestock Research Group of Global Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. His principal areas of research include the reduction of enteric methane emissions by ruminants, the reduction of nitrogen losses in production systems, and the identification of more efficient livestock in terms of feed conversion efficiency, methane emissions and nitrogen excretion.

Philip Nolan

BSc 1988, MB BCh BAO 1991, PhD 2003

Professor Philip Nolan has been appointed CEO Designate of the Research and Innovation funding agency by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD. The new funding agency, which will come into existence in 2024, is a key action in Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy and will amalgamate the activities and functions of the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

Michael McCambridge

BCL 1986, DipBS 1989

Michael McCambridge of McCambridge’s Bread has been shortlisted in the Established category of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023. McCambridge’s Bread, which started in a small bakery in Ranelagh in 1945, is one of the best-known brands in Ireland making wholewheat, brown soda, seeded and gluten-free breads and mixes from two locations in Rathcoole. Michael joined the family business from Diageo in 1994, after the sudden death of his parents, John and Maureen, in a road accident.

Tom O’Connor

BE 1998

Tom O’Connor, with business partner Kieran Cusack, was named Best Established Entrepreneur at the 25th EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2022. The pair founded their Limerick-based building and civil engineering contractor, Conack Construction, in 2008, and have grown it to be one of the biggest construction companies in Munster, winning contracts in both the public and private sectors and employing 200 people. Annual turnover is now in the region of €150m.

Charlie Gleeson

BComm 2019

Charlie Gleeson, founder and CEO of Zipp Mobility, headquartered at NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs, signed a merger deal with rival Zeus Scooters, Ireland’s largest micromobility company. Zipp is a significant player in the European micromobility sharing market, having launched e-scooter and e-bike operations across Ireland, the UK and Poland. Zipp previously secured funding from Enterprise Ireland, Fasanara Capital and angel investors including UCD alumnus Brian O’Driscoll.

Sharon Keegan

GradCert 2017

Sharon Keegan, who appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den series in 2021, raised €750,000 to expand her women’s athleisure brand, Peachylean, best known for its colourful leggings. The company raised €500,000 from private investors and €250,000 from the High Potential Start-up Unit (HPSU) at Enterprise Ireland, which helps internationally focused start-ups to scale up. To date, Peachylean has operated mainly online but is starting to move into physical retail stores

Jerome O’Connell and Nick Holden

PhD 2012 - PhD 1992, MEngSc 1998

Jerome O’Connell and Nick Holden’s NovaUCD spin-out agtech start-up, Proveye, has raised €1m in seed funding in a round led by Inspire Investments and Enterprise Ireland. Proveye offers remote sensing image analysis for agriculture; its target customers are agricultural advisers, fertiliser and pesticide suppliers and food processors.

Conor O’Loughlin

MBS Finance 2010

Conor O’Loughlin, a former scrum-half with Connacht Rugby, co-founded Glofox, the gym management software company, in 2017. Glofox has been acquired by US tech group ABC Fitness Solutions for more than €200m. The Glofox platform allows users to manage all aspects of their fitness business and has customers in more than 80 countries. It previously raised over €22m in investment.

Dave Byrne

BComm International (French) 2018, MSc Finance 2020

Dave Byrne, co-founder and CEO of NovaUCDheadquartered software startup ReaDI-Watch, founded in 2021, launched the business in Canada this year. The datadriven, cloud-based platform, which assists companies to manage R&D and innovation in real-time rather than retrospectively, has a customer base of Irish companies in multiple sectors.

Barry Canton

BE 2002, MEngSc 2003

Mechanical engineer Barry Canton is one of five founders of Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based biotech company at the forefront of cell programming for applications in biopharma, agriculture, and industrial chemicals. It continues to experience impressive growth, going public on the NYSE in 2021 and with 1,200 staff today across locations in the US and Europe

Sustainability Leaders