News

A UCD DEGREE CAN OPEN the door to a whole world of opportunity. However, for some students, the pathway to graduation is not easy or straightforward. It is littered with obstacles created by social, educational and financial disadvantages. UCD is firmly committed to breaking down these barriers so that brilliant students from all backgrounds have equal access to an excellent education. We know that the right support at the right time can change the trajectory of a young person’s life. In the wake of the pandemic, the need for support – both financial and emotional – is more pressing than ever before. The past year has been extremely challenging for our students. For some, job losses in the family and the inability to work in the summer months or part-time during the term is resulting in financial hardship and distress. Most have struggled to varying degrees with feelings of anxiety and isolation and it has been a particularly challenging time for those who were already struggling to manage ongoing mental health conditions.

STUDENT SUPPORT FUNDS

UCD alumni are great supporters of the students following in their footsteps. Thanks to generous philanthropic gifts to UCD Foundation from alumni and friends, we are able to provide more critical mental health services and financial aid than ever before to students in need. Your support is truly a lifeline for our students. To facilitate donors who wish to support student-focused activities and services at UCD, a number of College and School Support Funds have been established to provide funding that supports equality of access to opportunities for students and enhances their educational experience. This initiative is intended to simplify and enhance the experience of giving to UCD, and – critically – it means that students can access support directly when they need it.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Liam Madden (BE 1979) is a founding donor to the College of Engineering and Architecture Support Fund. He explains how his motivation for giving is rooted in his own experience while studying at UCD: “I am delighted to be a founding donor of the Support Fund for Engineering and Architecture. As a student of modest means in the 1970s, I recall my mother, Bridget Madden, taking a part-time job to help pay for my education at UCD. I hope that my donation (in her name) will help students who have financial challenges achieve their educational goals.”

COLLECTIVE IMPACT

By giving to a College Support Fund, you will join a pool of supporters who are making a huge collective impact. Through your generosity, more students will have access to the resources they need to thrive in all aspects of university life and beyond.

■ To learn more about how you can support UCD students today, visit www.ucdfoundation.ie/supporting-students

LAST YEAR, THE 50th anniversary of the main move by UCD to Belfield was a time to reflect on the past. Those five decades saw a remarkable transformation in the fabric of the University, and the evolution of our facilities and physical infrastructure continues today. Now, as we emerge from the extraordinary circumstances of the past 18 months, it is time to look to the future. UCD has a vital role to play in shaping this future of challenge and opportunity. Our impact depends on our ability to attract brilliant students, faculty, researchers and staff to a modern campus that actively encourages creativity, curiosity, and physical and mental wellbeing.

Philanthropy is central to UCD’s vision for campus development, which in turn underpins the objectives set out in the UCD Strategy 2020-2024: Rising to the Future. The visionary philanthropist Chuck Feeney, who celebrated his 90th birthday this year, invested abundantly in UCD over three decades. The impact of his support, and that of many other generous supporters and friends, is visible and tangible right across the University. The work of UCD Foundation in securing philanthropic gifts remains critical to UCD’s success as we advance our ambitious plans for a campus fit for 21st-century education and research.

UCD FUTURE CAMPUS

In April, full planning permission was granted for Future Campus. This transformative project reimagines the physical, social and cultural landscape of UCD as a unique environment that fosters creativity, interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement. Our plans for Future Campus include the UCD Centre for Future Learning and UCD Centre for Creativity, two iconic buildings that incorporate the principles of sustainable and universal design. Landscaping and enabling works for these landmark buildings are underway, with work on the buildings themselves scheduled to begin next summer.

With 33 technology-enabled classrooms of varying sizes and a large lecture theatre that can be reconfigured quickly and easily to facilitate different pedagogical approaches and styles, the Centre for Future Learning will be a vibrant hub for active learning at the heart of the campus. It will bring together students and academics from across the University in a warm and welcoming space that promotes serendipitous interactions, collaboration, and the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

The Centre for Future Learning and the neighbouring Centre for Creativity will be the focal point for UCD’s Engineering and Architecture Precinct. Characterised by an open, transparent design and an abundance of natural light, the Centre for Creativity will be a dynamic ‘living lab’, where ideas are brought to life in studios and maker spaces. “It will be a highly distinctive building defined by dynamism and interaction,” says Professor Hugh Campbell of UCD School of Architecture. “Students will learn by doing and they will learn from each other by virtue of being in this creative space together.”

Future Campus has become an even greater priority for UCD in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will provide the space and flexibility to safely accommodate a growing student population on campus, while the technology infrastructure will also support distance and blended learning. Both the Centre for Creativity and the Centre for Future Learning are expected to be open and occupied in the academic year 2024-2025.

UCD Foundation has secured the largest single philanthropic gift in its history for the Future Campus initiative and is actively seeking additional philanthropic support to advance this important project.

UCD SCIENCE DISTRICT

The Science landscape of UCD has undergone profound change over the past decade. The opening of UCD O’Brien Centre for Science in 2013 was the culmination of Phases I and II of a major investment in UCD College of Science. Now, Phase III – the final phase and the capstone project of this significant development – is well underway. The end result will be the full consolidation of the seven Schools of the College of Science into a cohesive, world-leading Science District. This will place UCD firmly on the map as a global leader in pioneering, multidisciplinary research, a centre of excellence in science education and public engagement, and a hub for innovation in emerging technologies.

The conceptual design stage of Science Phase III is now nearing completion. The final design will be informed by the in-depth consultation that has taken place with faculty and staff, and the desire to soften the boundaries between the scientific disciplines to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing. The planning application has now been submitted.

“It is both exciting and fascinating to see the Science Phase III project grow towards completion,” says Professor Pádraig Dunne, Academic Lead for the development. “I expect that the project will complete the O’Brien Centre for Science in a way that matches the achievements of earlier phases.”

ON TRACK FOR A HEALTHY UCD

Sport and athletics have always been an important part of UCD life. The absence of an athletics track on campus for the past decade has been keenly felt, not only by our elite athletes and the UCD community but by the wider community too. Now, thanks to an exceptional donation to the University in 2018, Belfield boasts an outstanding new athletics track at the heart of the UCD Sports Precinct.

The eight-lane 400m track has been three years in the making, its progress delayed at various times by COVID-19 and the soft Irish weather. This served only to heighten the anticipation and excitement surrounding the official opening of the track in September – fittingly, in the year that also marks the 100th anniversary of UCD Athletics Club.

“The new state-of-the-art running track is a superb amenity at the heart of a healthy UCD campus,” says UCD President, Professor Andrew J Deeks. “It supports our aim to provide a holistic educational experience that values physical and mental wellbeing as well as academic achievement.”

DOWN ON THE FARM

A world away from UCD’s Dublin campuses, in the rich pasturelands of Co. Kildare, lies a unique and vitally important part of the University: UCD Lyons Farm. Occupying 250 hectares of the original Lyons Estate acquired by UCD in 1964, the teaching and research farm is a critical resource for the School of Agriculture and Food Science and the School of Veterinary Medicine. It is also a key factor in the consistently high rankings achieved by UCD’s Veterinary Medicine programme (23rd this year in QS rankings) and Agricultural Science programmes (24th this year in US News & World Report rankings).

The innovative research carried out at Lyons Farm addresses issues of global and national importance, from crop production, nutrition and herd health to climate change and biodiversity. However, the extraordinary depth and breadth of the knowledge base and research activity on the farm belie an infrastructure that largely dates back to the 1970s. An ambitious €25m masterplan is now in place to change the face of Lyons Farm for the 21st century and establish world-class facilities befitting a global centre of excellence. Thanks to generous philanthropic support, the transformation has already begun.

A €2.3m partnership between academia and industry saw the launch of the UCD Lyons Dairy Education and Research Facility in 2016. In 2018, work began on the UCD Lyons Farm Long-term Grazing Platform to develop sustainable systems in grass-based agriculture; the first pastures were sown in 2020.

The next major development will be the opening of the Herd Health Hub and AgTech Innovation Hub in 2022, which will position Lyons Farm as a central hub for research and agricultural innovation in Ireland. These two additions are crucial components of UCD’s One Health strategy, which promotes synergistic multidisciplinary collaboration at the interface between human, animal and ecosystem health. Both the Herd Health Hub and the Innovation Centre will ultimately form part of the broader vision for UCD Lyons Farm Knowledge Centre, which will bring together cutting-edge teaching and research facilities and public engagement spaces within a custom-designed building that will serve as a gateway to the farm.

Reflecting on what all this will mean for students, Professor Alex Evans, Dean of Agriculture and Head of the School of Agriculture and Food Science, says, “We’re very conscious of developing students who can think and communicate, who are confident and resilient. We’re designing our buildings, spaces and opportunities around the student experience, and Lyons Farm is an important part of that.”

It will be wonderful to witness the evolution of Lyons Farm over the coming decades, as more supporters come on board. “We’re really committed to an ambitious vision for the farm,” says Professor Michael Doherty, Dean and Head of the School of Veterinary Medicine. “We have the passion, but we need financial support to get these projects over the line.”

A CULTURE OF PHILANTHROPY

The seeds of giving planted by Chuck Feeney and other donors have flourished and grown to create a strong culture of philanthropy. The generosity of our supporters is woven into the bricks and mortar of the University, and it drives us forward in our work to make the world a better place.

■ To learn more about how you can support UCD and our students, please contact Orla Gallagher on 087 0976420 or visit www.ucdfoundation.ie

UCD LIFELONG LEARNING

An opportunity to explore a subject without assessment

UCD’S DIVERSE ADMISSION pathways provide opportunities for everyone to become part of the UCD Community. It is at the heart of the University’s values and mission. Our Lifelong Learning Programme is a wide range of specific interest courses that are participative, engaging, and facilitated by experts in their field. Lifelong Learning courses cover a broad range of topics including Languages, Art Appreciation, Irish Studies, History, Literature, Philosophy and Writing. They are open to all adult learners and provide a unique opportunity to explore a subject without examinations.

UCD alumni can avail of a special ten per cent discount on all UCD Lifelong Learning courses.

This autumn, the Lifelong Learning programme includes language courses in Italian, Spanish and French, Art Appreciation courses in Impressionism, Art Nouveau design and Yeats: An Artistic Family. For History buffs, there’s a History of Dublin Through Virtual Walks and Talks, 1921-1922 Ireland War and Peace and a fascinating Global History of Latin America Through Objects, among others. There are eight-week Irish Studies courses, a four-week course on Introducing Conflict Resolution and a life skills course on Tai Chai and Mindfulness for Health and Happiness. And that’s just for starters!

The Lifelong Learning programme caters to an ever-growing community of around 1,400 Lifelong Learners and we encourage you to join us! All courses are developed in collaboration with experienced tutors, UCD Schools, and the wider community.

ASSESSMENT

No exams, no assessments – the emphasis is on learning and participation.

VIRTUAL COURSES

Courses take place online or, if COVID-19 restrictions permit, on the Belfield campus or at cultural institutions including the DLR Lexicon, Collins Barracks, Hugh Lane Gallery and Pearse Library.

COST

Cost of courses varies from €70 – €185, with most courses comprising six or eight weekly sessions. Check the course you are interested in for details.

BOOKING

Booking for autumn courses is open now, and booking for spring courses will open at 10am on December 1 2021.

FIND OUT MORE

For start dates and more information see www.ucd.ie/all/cometoucd/applying/lifelonglearning or download the UCD Lifelong learning Brochure at www.ucd.ie/all/cometoucd/applying/lifelonglearning/courselist or email all@ucd.ie.

SMURFIT EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT

Transformational learning to drive business success

As part of Ireland’s leading business school, Smurfit Executive Development programmes are designed to provide the business leaders of today and tomorrow with a transformational experience. Ranked first in Ireland, 27th in Europe and 42nd in the world for our Open Enrolment programmes in the Financial Times Executive Education Rankings, Smurfit Executive Development helps executives, and their organisations create new opportunities to drive growth and create value. All our programmes deliver a 360-degree learning experience, providing participants with fresh insights on their professional and personal strengths, strategies for taking their leadership skills to the next level, and a network of peers whose challenges mirror their own. Programmes are structured to ensure that participants interact closely with both UCD faculty and other senior executives. Participants are executives with considerable experience, with each class assembled to reflect a stimulating mix of backgrounds. As a result, participants will gain a broader perspective on everyday challenges, as well as access to a wider network of executives around the world. UCD Business alumni can avail of a five per cent discount*.

TAUGHT AND LED

The dedicated team of UCD Smurfit faculty are widely recognised as skilled educators, ground-breaking researchers, and accomplished authors.

STRUCTURE

The majority of diploma programmes are delivered over a series of six two-day workshops within a twelve-month period. Workshops are typically held on Fridays and Saturdays to minimise interference with busy work schedules; 100 per cent attendance is required.

ASSESSMENTS AND WORKLOAD

Participants are assessed on a module-by-module basis through practical assignments.

ACCREDITATION

Participants will be awarded an accredited Professional Diploma (30 ECTS at NFQ Level 9). For those who want to learn without assessment, there are a selection of non-accredited three-day short courses.

PATHWAY TO MASTERS

Our MSc in Business (Leadership & Management Practice) is based on a framework of diploma programmes. By completing three diplomas from our open enrolment portfolio, you will receive the qualification of MSc Business (Leadership & Management Practice) accredited and awarded by UCD at Level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The MSc in Business & Executive Coaching is based around a framework of three coaching diplomas. By completing all three of these coaching diplomas, ideally within a five-year timeframe, you will be conferred with the qualification of MSc Business & Executive Coaching accredited and awarded by UCD.

MODE OF DELIVERY

We intend to revert to in-person teaching on campus in autumn 2021 unless COVID-19 restrictions are still in place.

FIND OUT MORE

Contact us on +353 1 716 8889, or email exec.dev@ucd.ie or visit www.smurfitschool.ie/executivedevelopment

*UCD Business alumni discount

*UCD Business alumni discount

UCD OPEN LEARNING

A flexible way of studying part-time at UCD

UCD’s innovative Open Learning programme makes undergraduate programmes available to all learners. Other than a motivation to learn, there are no entry requirements. As Open Learners, returning alumni can access almost 350 modules from UCD’s six colleges (see below), as well as the Applied Language Centre.

Open Learners enjoy the same status as all other students and access to UCD facilities, including libraries and study areas. The beauty of Open Learning is that it facilitates part-time learning to suit your schedule and your interests. Open Learning is for you if you need a more flexible study schedule. Open Learning is a great option if you don’t yet qualify for entry to an undergraduate degree or you want to get a feel for academic life before starting a full degree.

Open Learning is for you if you are interested in one or more of the module topics available and want to learn more from experts in that field. Open Learning allows you to select the modules you wish to study, set the pace of your study, and whether you undertake the module assessment. It also can lead to undergraduate degree entry in UCD if you are taking the Certificate in Open Learning (30 credits) or if you are a Mature Student you can take one module (five credits) in lieu of Mature Students Admissions Pathway (MSAP) exam.

OPTIONS

For those who want to learn without assessment, an Audit option of every module is available. Those who wish to gain credits towards a degree programme can choose a Credit module, which will be counted towards a Certificate, Diploma or used as a pathway to a degree programme.

VIRTUAL CLASSES

The vast majority of classes will take place online. Be sure to check out the module descriptors and how the module will be offered for the courses you are interested in before you sign up.

COST

The fee for Open Learning is €375 per Audit module, €500 per Credit module.

NOTE

Open Learning modules are subject to change and are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

FIND OUT MORE

For more details on each module and what you will learn and the assessment type, see www.ucd.ie/all/cometoucd/applying/openlearning/

UCD PROFESSIONAL ACADEMY

For the ambitious career professional

For alumni seeking the opportunity to stay competitive and stimulated in the changing workplace, UCD Professional Academy offers a suite of choices. The Academy provides expert instructor-led courses via our interactive online study environment but students can choose in-person video classes if they prefer. We ensure you have an engaging and rewarding learning experience, giving you access to everything you need to succeed. As your course progresses, you can contact us about any questions, issues, or challenges to make sure you stay on track.

TEST AND ASSESS

Learning logs and continuous assessment.

TOOLS AND TUTORIALS

All courses are part-time and online, with the exception of one in-person week-long boot camp.

TAKE HOME

A professional diploma/certificate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact the UCD Professional Academy Team at www.ucd.ie/professionalacademy

ALUMNI BENEFITS

UCD alumni can enjoy 15 per cent off our courses, please see details here: www.ucd.ie/professionalacademy/ucdalumni

THE FIRST STORIES I heard about UCD were romantic and social far more than they were academic. That was where my parents met – in an English tutorial given by Denis Donoghue, apparently – and fell in love. When they married, in 1968, it was in University Church. Their stories of UCD are inextricably linked with the story of their romance – lectures, debates, walks and cycles around Earlsfort terrace, “the old UCD”. So many of their friends had parallel stories: love that blossomed at the L&H or over coffee in the canteen, and endured on over decades, marriages, children.

It makes sense in so many ways. University is a group of like-minded people of similar age with interests in common, forced into geographic proximity (location, location, location can apply to love as much as real estate) and – most importantly – many with an openness to the idea of romance.

There are no rules around dating in college, in the way there so often are in the workplace. Instead, there is the energy of a new beginning and a new phase in life, coupled with a readiness to learn and experience new things. This leads to greater freedom, one hopes, than the secondary school setting, where people can become very trapped in their narrow social groups and pre-determined criteria of who is – and isn’t – a good match.

Does that sound like I am looking through rose-tinted spectacles? Maybe, but there is evidence to suggest my romantic notions are not misplaced. A recent call-out by UCD Connections, following on from a Valentine’s Day survey carried out in 2015, brought in a flood of responses from alumni. Oliver McBryan, (BSc 1966, MSc 1967) recalls meeting his future wife Ann Higgins in the “first week of First Year at Freshers introduction”. An early version of a dating app played a part: “In spring of 1964, for a week of charity events, I wrote a matchmaking programme for the brand new IBM 360 computer. Hundreds (maybe thousands) of students signed up, and kept the IBM punched card reader very busy. I fudged the algorithm to pair me with Ann Higgins and we are still together 58 years later. Good programme; too bad I didn’t patent it!” Fortune, as they say, favours the brave.

Persistence is also rewarded. In 1992, Jordi Vives i Batlle (PhD 1994) was a PhD student at the department of Experimental Physics and Sandra Lynch (BSc 1992, Dip 1993) was a graduate student in the same department. “I was a research demonstrator, which involved teaching nuclear physics experiments to graduate students,” explains Jordi. “Sandra walked into the lab, and I found her very interesting. In order to maximise exposure time I gave her the annihilation quanta practical, the longest experiment. She did the practical in no time, perfectly, whereupon I proceeded to suggest additional experiments, before changing tactics and inviting her to a party. And that was it. When I finished my PhD I went to the USA for a postdoc. Before I left, we became verbally engaged – I was broke, having spent my grant on rent and Guinness and couldn’t afford a ring. Sandra joined me in the USA and we finally got married in 1997.”

What’s lovely about reading the responses is how site-specific they are. These stories couldn’t come from anywhere except UCD over the last half century or so. For anyone who studied there, reading them instantly conjures up a world of idiosyncratic landmarks – the Blob, the Lake, Hilpers café.

Perfectly Matched

Hugh McFadden (BA 1966) met his future wife at UCD in 1962. “Elizabeth Hayes (BA 1966) and I were both studying for an Arts degree. We married and we are still married, 57 years later. The years in Earlsfort Terrace were among the happiest years of our lives.”

Elaine Dempsey (BAgrSc 2010) fell in love on campus when she broke her ankle rushing to an exam. “A knight in shining armour took me to the campus doctor then to St Vincent’s Hospital. After nine hours of waiting for X-rays and a cast, he took me back to a friend’s apartment and then, in a rush to commute home to Ashbourne, he was gone. When the door buzzer went the next morning, there he was again, with a beaming smile.’’

Thomas Reade (BComm 2015, MAcc 2016) remembers how in the first week of lectures in 2013, a girl from the US asked him the way to the Arts Block. “We’ve been married since 2018. It turned out she never needed directions!’’

Love at First Sight

“It was love at first sight when I laid eyes on Jarlath in my first year at UCD in the student bar. Eleven years married, we have a beautiful ten-year-old boy and last year were lucky enough to make it home and show him where his parents met and fell in love. UCD will always hold a special place in both our hearts.” Tina Regan (BA History 2002)

Michael Lowry (BSc 1985), met his wife Stephanie née Shannon (BSc 1981) “on the ground floor of the Science block on our first day. The chemistry worked and we married in UCD in 1988 in the church on campus. We return to UCD each year on our wedding anniversary and visit Fr Shan O’Cuiv who was Science Chaplain and married us. Getting married in UCD was the crowning glory of our years at UCD.”

Gillian Fitzpatrick (BA 2006) met her husband “in lecture Theatre L. Cups of tea between lectures allowed the romance to heat up, and lots of walks around the secret lake.” They were both 18. “We went to Rome on Erasmus; then back to UCD for finals. Professionally and personally, UCD laid almost every foundation in my life. Now we are four years married and have a two-year-old daughter.”

Happy Coincidence

Anabel Chavva (MA Media & International Conflict 2014) who lives in the USA, still marvels that she met her husband at UCD. “Neither I nor my husband (Dhiraj Chavva, MSc Environmental Science 2014) are Irish (he’s from India). Yet both of us chose to study at UCD. We met eight years ago, instantly fell in love and just celebrated four years of marriage.”

Did she go to UCD expecting to find romance, I ask Gillian? “Absolutely not!” When I arrived on campus I just wanted to learn, meet new people, and have fun.” So what does she think led to meeting her life partner? “It’s such a carefree time in many ways. Yes, study and exams are high pressure, but you have a lot of freedom too. Lots of people I know were finally comfortable enough to be their own person when they arrived at UCD – that freedom can lead to strong relationships.”

This idea of young people becoming comfortable with themselves is one that crops up for Columb Fortune (BSocSc 2010, MCL 2012). He tells me: “I met someone around 2010 while in UCD, and we were together for almost five years. He was from the country and I think when he got to UCD he felt like he could really be himself. I think UCD gives people an opportunity, not just academically, but also socially and personally, to develop. The LGBT experience for me was very much one of total acceptance. Being gay was never an issue at UCD because there was diversity on campus.”

Although marriage may not be the end result for so many, romance still blossoms. Obviously the last year and a half have been far from ideal in this regard, but immediately before that, the power of UCD attraction was going strong. Katie Eager – studying Social Policy & Sociology – recalls arriving late to a lecture in Theatre L. Sitting down, her seat squeaked loudly. “The man sitting beside me made a comment about the squeak, and we ended up chatting.” A few weeks later, they met again, in The Clubhouse, added each other on Facebook and then went for drinks. Three years later, they are still together.

So far, there is no UCD dating app, although a Reddit post from two months ago, apparently put up by a UCD student, calls for this very thing. “Why not just use Tinder? Most people put their college on it anyway so you’ll be able to see other UCD students,” is one of the responses. And this is perfectly true – dating apps will match you based on geographical proximity and interests. Joining college societies is likely to do the very same thing, only with the bonus of a face-to-face encounter. What more efficient way to ensure potential partners share your love for archery, say, than by meeting them at a society dedicated to this very thing? There are around 90 to choose from, not including sports clubs.

It’s not just hobbies; intellectual compatibility features too. Jane Lynch (BSc 1989, PhD 1994) got to know her husband Colin when both were awarded Crawford-Hayes bursaries to work on a project in Killarney as second-year Science students. “We finally got together in the fourth year. We both majored in Zoology and did PhDs. We got engaged in 1993 and married in 1994 just after we both completed our PhD viva voces. Colin was writing up his corrections the morning of our wedding. We have four beautiful kids. We never would have met but for UCD.”

I met my husband while I was at UCD, although he was not at UCD. But the friend who introduced us was, as were so many of the people I still consider my best and closest pals. So yes, I feel I owe UCD, not just my education and degree, but also many lasting friendships, and my marriage.

WHERE TO TIE THE KNOT ON CAMPUS

Maybe you fell in love at UCD, maybe you didn’t, but if you are an alumnus, you might like to consider getting married on campus. While the stunning University Church beside Newman House on St Stephen’s Green is the setting for many alumni weddings, and you can now get married at the adjacent Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), Belfield also offers a number of new gorgeous spaces and places for wedding ceremonies and receptions. Ardmore House, built-in 1800, has been beautifully restored to its former glory, and civil wedding ceremonies and receptions now take place in its gracious, light-filled rooms.

The modern, stylish UCD University Club accommodates ceremonies and receptions in a number of spaces, depending on the size of your party. Iconic O’Reilly Hall, with its spectacular conservatory overlooking the lake, couldn’t be smarter. You can also host your wedding ceremony on the lawn beside the lake – the spot with a place in the hearts of all alumni. Of course, Belfield’s landscaped grounds, with cherry blossom trees in spring and leafy Woodland Walk, particularly photogenic in autumn, provide the perfect backdrop for your photos. And there’s the pretty blue Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Church on campus too. With a stunning venue chosen, the UCD events team will work with you to create a memorable reception.

For further information, email us at event.sales@ucd.ie or call us on 01 716 2622.

Click to enlarge

UCD O’Reilly Hall

Our Lady of Wisdom Church

Ardmore House

UCD University Club

The new Museum of Literature Ireland. Source: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography

MORE THAN 30 YEARS ago, a group of students met on a bench in the Newman Building to discuss how to make the University accessible to all. Now, decades later, not far from that spot in the heart of the campus is UCD Access & Lifelong Learning (ALL), home to UCD’s comprehensive service for students with disabilities. The service has grown exponentially over the years, from supporting just 100 students in 1994, to supporting more than 2,000 today.

“In the past, students with disabilities had to negotiate access and bespoke solutions were generated for their individual needs,” says Disability Officer Julie Tonge. “UCD has a radically different approach now. UCD’s University for All initiative ensures that access and inclusion issues are addressed in an integrated and coherent way that meets the needs and expectations of all students. Where additional specialist supports are needed, we work with individual students to ensure equity of participation for such students.” Tonge explains that UCD aims to bring together the entire University community to become a fully inclusive, diverse institution. “We recognise, promote and value diversity, we foster the spirit of inclusion. We appreciate the breadth of talent, experience and contribution of all students, and strive to remove the barriers to access, participation and success.”

One student with a disability commented in a recent survey, “The support I received from UCD ALL was far beyond anything I expected. The UCD ALL team members were so welcoming, supportive and non-judgemental that it made the entire process so much easier for me.”

As the move to online learning accelerated over the past 18 months, UCD ALL worked closely with colleagues in UCD IT services to incorporate new technologies to improve the accessibility of the online learning environment for everyone. With the introduction of Ally for Brightspace, students can download course materials in whatever format meets their needs – such as audio format or Braille – thus reducing the need for students with disabilities to have their course materials converted. According to one user: “This is a gamechanger. It is simple to use and works every time.” Students who learn better by listening or who would like to learn while commuting to college, can download audio files and listen to course materials on the go. Ally also provides essential feedback and guidance to staff on the accessibility of their course content and how to improve it, making life easier for staff and students alike.

Registrar and Deputy President of UCD, Professor Mark Rogers, says that “UCD aims to tailor what we do to really meet the full range of requirements for students without labelling them.” To this end, UCD is committed to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an effective framework to improve the learning experience for all students within the higher education teaching environment. It is a set of principles for curriculum development that gives all students, including those with disabilities, equal opportunities to learn. UCD ALL, in collaboration with UCD Teaching & Learning and UCD Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, recently appointed 17 University for All Faculty partners from across the University. These partners will qualify as UDL facilitators to accelerate the implementation of UDL throughout the University, and will become role models to influence others as to the merits of inclusion for all students. UDL considers the needs of all students and reduces the need for students with disabilities to contact specialist services for extra support. Tonge notes that “this Universal Design approach ensures that access and inclusion is now everyone’s business.”

For students with mobility issues, the physical accessibility of the campus is a priority. UCD’s new buildings are fully wheelchair accessible, with push pads, automatic doors and disabled toilets and UCD Estate Services and UCD ALL have audited all older campus buildings, adapting and retrofitting on a phased basis. The central spine or mall has been smoothed out with gentle slopes and ramps replacing steps. “Accessibility is the norm, not just meeting standards but exceeding them. This work will continue as the campus develops with accessibility key to all new developments from conception,” says Tonge.

The demand for disability supports in the area of mental health has seen a dramatic increase, according to Tonge. “We have observed a huge increase in the need for accommodations for those suffering from mental health difficulties.” Accommodations might include being able to sit exams in a classroom environment rather than in large exam halls, or perhaps being granted additional time for exams. “It is vital we try and ensure that students with mental health difficulties maintain their studies and can take their exams.” Communication of the issues around disability to staff is of huge importance, Tonge continues, “To those in teaching roles, we offer disability workshops and disability awareness training so that we promote a supportive culture in every classroom as well as all around campus.”

■ www.ucd.ie/all

ANOTHER EXCEPTIONAL YEAR challenged us to strengthen our ties with you, our alumni community, all over the globe. Not only did we continue a lively calendar of virtual events, we expanded our programme of engagement, and met tens of thousands of you online with our series of alumni conversations, workshops and career-building seminars, Women in Leadership conference, at Chapter events, and at the UCDFestival@home, among many others. It was uplifting and inspiring to see how our alumni community continued to connect and support students from countries all over the world. The past 18 months have demonstrated the value of virtual engagement, with more alumni abroad and at home attending virtual events, watching back and engaging with our YouTube channel, and volunteering to mentor students online. We will continue to communicate our programme of activities including ways to support incoming UCD students.

We welcome the class of 2021 as new alumni and fully appreciate how your final year was a challenging one. However, your ties to UCD are strong and will strengthen further over time. There are excellent career-building events and mentoring and student engagement opportunities that will enable you to reap the benefits throughout your whole career.

■ Update your details with us at www.ucd.ie/alumni/updateyourdetails or email us at alumni@ucd.ie. We look forward to hearing from you.

NICOLE BLACK

Director of Alumni Development

JENNIE BLAKE

Student Experience,
Corporate Engagement

SINÉAD DOLAN

Communications, Global Engagement

SHEILA MORRIS

Mass Events, College Engagement

LOUISE DELAHUNTY

Student Scholarships / Support

MELISSA BYRNE

Law

RIA FLOM

Alumni Volunteering

GILLIAN DURNIN

Business

CAMILLE ROGERS

Communications

JUDE CANNIFFE

Events & Clubs and Societies

ALEX BOWKLEY

Engineering and Architecture

CATHY BROOKS

Science

MAEVE O’CONNELL

Science

JONATHAN WEIR

Social Sciences

FIONA BOLGER

Health and Agricultural Sciences

MICHELLE POWER

Global Alumni Engagement

MICHAEL MULLOOLY

Arts and Humanities

PAULINA MARTYNIAK

Business

SELENA WALSH

Digital Engagement

NIAMH MCGOWAN

Volunteering and Student Experience

UCD’S ALUMNI NETWORK is as impressive as it is vast. With almost 300,000 former students based in 185 countries around the world, its reach is phenomenal. Our graduates are the standard-bearers of UCD’s reputation. It is in large part due to our alumni that the value of each of the University’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses continue to be enhanced. Their loyal and passionate support is helping to shape the future of Ireland’s leading global university.

The UCD Alumni Awards were introduced in 2014 to acknowledge that invaluable support and to honour the outstanding achievement by our graduates in a wide variety of fields and disciplines.

With the pandemic continuing to change life as we know it, it is more important than ever to celebrate the accomplishments of our leading alumni.

We will celebrate our alumni with a month of special virtual events in November, www.ucd.ie/alumniawards.

Here are the nine worthy recipients of the UCD Alumni Awards 2021 …

HEALTH AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AWARD

MIKE RYAN MPH 1992

DIRECTOR, WORLD EMERGENCIES, WHO

Dr. Michael Ryan is the Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies programme. For 25 years he has been at the forefront of managing acute risk on a global level.

Dr. Mike Ryan has become a household name thanks to his work in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been acclaimed for his expert communications skills – an attribute that has been of critical importance in the most significant pandemic to hit the world in 100 years. Dr. Ryan, who has master’s degree in Public Health from UCD, first joined WHO and the newly-established emergencies unit in 1996 and immediately began work on responding to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict-affected countries and led numerous responses to high-impact epidemics.

He is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which has aided the response to hundreds of disease outbreaks around the world and has been a vital tool in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Ryan says that COVID-19 presents the biggest challenge of his career. Prior to COVID-19, and his leadership on COVID, he was Operational Coordinator of WHO’s response to the SARS outbreak in 2003 and was a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017.

“Half of this world thinks the pandemic is over, and half is about to go over another cliff edge,” Dr Ryan said in July 2021. “We have developed highly effective vaccinations, and what is our next move? To distribute them in an inequitable fashion so that we can stop the tragedy of the pandemic in some countries, and we will allow that pandemic to continue in so many others.” Dr Ryan has been tireless in advocating for a fair share of vaccines in every part of the world.

SCIENCE AWARD

TERESA LAMBE BSc 1997, PhD 2002

SCIENTIST

Teresa Lambe is an Associate Professor at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. She co-designed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been one of the key tools in helping to bring the global COVID-19 pandemic under control. Lambe was awarded an OBE for services to science and public health in 2021.

What are your memories of UCD? I met some absolutely fantastic scientists there who were very rigorous in their scientific methodology. One of them, Ruth McMahon, went on to become my second child’s godmother. And I met Ruairi O’Donnell – my partner of 20 years – at UCD. What advice do you have for UCD graduates? Believe in yourself. If you set your sights on something, go for it. When you get knocked down, don’t take it as defeat – take it as a stepping-stone to learn to do it better. Can you speak about your work in developing a COVID-19 vaccine? Over the past 18 months my life has been wholly consumed [with the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine]. I co-designed it and oversaw the pre-clinical testing as well as the vaccine-response work. What are you most proud of, career-wise? The vaccine that we developed as a team is a career high. There have been moments that I have felt overcome, by what we’ve achieved. I’m so proud of the team around me. Do you see yourself as a role model? I’m just a normal girl from Kildare, there’s nothing extraordinary about me – but if [creating a vaccine] helps to empower anyone to feel like they can embark on a career in science, I would be very happy.

SPORT AWARD

LEO CULLEN BA 1999

LEINSTER RUGBY COACH

Leo Cullen is Head Coach of Leinster Rugby. He has managed the province to great success, including a European Champions Cup title in 2018, becoming the first man to win the Champions Cup as player and coach. As a player, he made 32 appearances for Ireland, and won the Champions Cup three times with Leinster.

What are your memories of UCD? I really enjoyed it but looking back, I didn’t participate that much in the social side of university, because I was serious about sport. I’d love to go back to study again in a situation where I was able to dedicate all of my time to it. What advice would you have for anyone currently studying in UCD? I think “Life is about experiences and the different relationships that you forge.” you have to immerse yourself in college life and sign up for as many societies as you can. Put yourself outside your comfort zone. Life is about experiences and the different relationships that you forge. What aspects of your career do you cherish the most? I’ve been lucky enough to have had great successes on the pitch, but it’s the friendships and relationships built up over the years that mean so much. When you have success as a player, it is because of that group of people that you’ve worked so hard alongside. What impact has the pandemic had on you? We had to close our operation and make sure each of the players was taken care of, that they could create a proper gym environment at home. Everyone was cooped up in their own little bubble. On the plus side for me, I got to spend a lot of time at home with my two young children.

LAW AWARD

FIONA MCENTEE BCL 2005

IMMIGRATION LAWYER

Fiona McEntee is Founder and Managing Attorney of the Chicago-based McEntee Law Group. She counsels clients, individuals and families as well as world-leading musicians and athletes, on everchanging immigration policies. Her debut children’s book, Our American Dream, was published last year.

What does UCD mean to you now? I was one of the first in my family to go to the third level. I’ve such happy memories of UCD – the friends I met there I still have to this day. I learned so much that still informs my work. What aspects of your work do you enjoy most? I’m proud of being able to use my voice to advocate for others. I have huge privilege as an educated white Irish immigrant and an immigration lawyer. What achievements are you most proud of? I feel like we have a responsibility to influence the narrative of immigration to the US. I am proud of that work. I also wrote a children’s book on immigration. How significantly has your work been affected by the pandemic? It had a huge impact. Everything was shut down. There were no Green Card interviews, no visa appointments, there were travel bans. On a personal note, it’s been difficult. My cousin, who was like a brother to me, passed away from cancer last May and I haven’t been able to return to Dublin. What advice have you for new graduates? Find work you are passionate about. Life is too short to do work that does not satisfy you. Social media can be a good tool, but be wary of what you say on it.

ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

AWARD LIAM MADDEN BE 1979

GENERAL MANAGER, XILINX

Liam Madden is Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the Wired and Wireless Group at Xilinx, currently specialising in 5G. Based in Silicon Valley, he has spent 35 years in the US semiconductor industry. Madden has extensive experience in incubating novel technologies and is an Adjunct Professor at UCD.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work? Surprisingly, from a day-to-day perspective, our business has proceeded as usual. The biggest change is business travel. Prior to the pandemic, I was travelling up to 50 per cent of the time. Now, all customer contact is virtual. What strategies have you deployed to help you cope with COVID-19’s unique demands? Zoom fatigue is real. I try to ensure that no meeting runs longer than 90 minutes without taking a break. On the break, I get up, walk around and go water my tomatoes. What advice would you have for today’s UCD graduates, especially in light of the pandemic disrupting their studies? Be flexible. You have your entire life to learn. Do what you can, then let it go. Recognise that every other student is similarly impacted and just like the two hikers in the woods you don’t have to run faster than the bear, just your companion! What life skills did you pick up at UCD? The ability to break problems down into manageable chunks and then not to procrastinate. I always feel that if I spend even half an hour on a big task, I have made progress. What aspects of your career are you most proud of? Mentoring. I learned the importance of having a mentor when I was at UCD. Professor Jim Lacy supervised my final year project and his guidance and support left a lasting impression.

SOCIAL SCIENCES AWARD

CAITRIONA PALMER BA 1993

JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR

Caitriona Palmer is a journalist, author and advocate who has worked in human rights, specialising in war-related missing persons cases. Her memoir, An Affair With My Mother, was widely acclaimed. She was the co-author, with former President Mary Robinson, of Climate Justice.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work? With three children in virtual school for the entire pandemic, my work took a back seat. Creativity went out the window. I was forced to be nimble, writing during snatches of free time and at odd hours. What strategies have you deployed to help you cope with COVID-19’s unique demands? As hard as it is to do, I tried to go easy on myself. I focused on my kids whose lives were turned upside down. I deployed gratitude as a daily mantra. What advice would you have for today’s UCD graduates, in light of the pandemic disrupting their studies? Be kind to yourself. This is an unprecedented time and you have been through a lot. Pursue your passions, not your pocket. Follow your heart. What are your key memories of your time at UCD? I loved the excitement and intellectual rigour of Friday nights at the L&H. At the Student’s Union, I found community and connection. Our student campaigns felt like a microcosm of the social changes rocking Ireland at that time. What aspects of your career are you most proud of? As a storyteller, my career has mostly been focused on the pain of others, including the victims of Bosnia’s Srebrenica massacre and the survivors of Ireland’s system of forced adoption, Mother and Baby homes. These people gifted me their stories – it’s the greatest honour of my life.

RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND IMPACT AWARD

ANN O’DEA BA 1990, MA 1992

CO-FOUNDER, SILICON REPUBLIC

Ann O’Dea is CEO and co-founder of Silicon Republic, the science and technology news website. She is founder of Inspirefest (now Future Human) and was the first woman inducted into the Irish Internet Association’s Hall of Fame. O’Dea is on the advisory board of TeenTurn, which provides teenage girls with experience in STEM.

How has the pandemic affected your work? We are very much a digital-first company, so we’ve been affected less than others. We were remote-ready and the day of the Taoiseach’s announcement we all left the office and have not been together since. What strategies have you deployed to help you cope with COVID’s unique demands? I have taught myself that downtime is vital for my own well-being and productivity. I am never more than a minute away from my home office, so I’ve had to be strict about delineating work-time and me-time. What advice would you have for today’s UCD graduates? Aspire to excellence, not perfection. Also, a lot of roles can now be done remotely, so don’t limit yourself when it comes to applying for that dream job. What life skills did you pick up at UCD? Dealing with humans! I was shy and introverted, and UCD was the first time I really had to get past that and get on with it. I also really improved my writing and analytical thinking skills there – something that still stands to me today. What aspects of your career are you most proud of? I’m proud to have co-founded a publication (Silicon Republic) that, as well as documenting progress in science and technology, has always been fearless in tackling societal issues, like equal access to learning and the importance of diversity and inclusion.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES AWARD

NEIL JORDAN BA 1972

DIRECTOR AND WRITER

Neil Jordan is one of Ireland’s most respected film-makers. He wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film, The Crying Game, and award-winning movies include Michael Collins and Interview with the Vampire. His fiction has been equally admired. His latest novel is The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small.

What are your memories of UCD? I was in Earlsfort Terrace before the entire University was moved to Belfield. In retrospect, a very wise decision. I had a great time there. Myself and Jim Sheridan got involved in drama there and we set up a couple of large productions in the old Newman House. Two of my lecturers, Denis Donoghue and Seamus Deane, were really brilliant men. What aspects of your career are you most proud of? When I published my first book, Night in Tunisia, Seán Ó Faoláin gave it this extraordinarily extravagant praise. Then I started making movies – for reasons I can’t remember! I never thought I’d win an Oscar, but when The Crying Game was nominated for all these Oscars and I won, I was so surprised. Has the pandemic significantly affected your work? The main effect on my line of work is that streaming services have really taken over from cinemas, and cinema-going is not going to come back the way it was. Going to the cinema will not be how you first experience a piece of work by a talent you are excited about. What’s next for you? I’m about to make a movie with Liam Neeson in Barcelona. It’s called Marlowe, set in Los Angeles in 1938, and based on the Benjamin Black book, The Black-Eyed Blonde.

BUSINESS AWARD

OLIVIA MAGUIRE BCOMM 1997, MBS 1998

PORTFOLIO MANAGER

Olivia Maguire, Executive Director at JP Morgan, is a Portfolio Manager in the Global Liquidity team in London. She has chaired the Institutional Money Market Funds Association Investment Committee since 2018 and is a current member of the Bank of England Money Market Committee.

How has the pandemic affected your work? I adapted well to remote work. It’s been relatively straightforward to stay connected with the team and with clients. I’ve been lucky: my husband is a musician and his whole industry and career have been on hold since March 2020. What strategies have you deployed to help cope with the pandemic? I had a weekly Zoom catch-up with family back in Ireland, regular video calls with friends and continued our work choir virtually. Those interactions were especially important when my husband was hospitalised with COVID-19. How would you advise today’s UCD student? Enjoy the learning experience. As scientists and medics around the world – including teams at UCD, such as the laboratory run by my sister, Professor Patricia Maguire, Director, UCD Institute for Discovery – learn more about COVID-19, the world will better adapt to living with the disease and there will be a lot of time ahead to enjoy time together with the new friends you’ve made online or pre-pandemic. What are your UCD memories? When I arrived at UCD to study Commerce aged 17, it was a big step into adulthood, travelling back and forth every day across the city, meeting lots of new people, making lifelong friends, joining diverse societies. What aspects of your career are you most proud of? I’m proud to be able to act as a role model to others who want to join the financial services industry.

■ www.ucd.ie/alumniawards

THE ALCOHOL-FREE BAR OWNER

Sarah Connolly Psychology 2004 The Virgin Mary “My degree opened my mind after all those years of maths and Irish. Afterwards I did a post-grad in communications and worked with Irish Distillers. My sister Nicola and her husband Vaughan Yates both worked in the drinks industry, and together saw trends emerging in the non-alcoholic sector and that there were no venues catering to it. In 2019 we opened The Virgin Mary “Sobar” on Capel Street. We thought, ‘If we can make it work in Dublin we can make it work anywhere!’ We have our first franchise opening in the UAE this year.

Our customers include everyone from Gen Xers to people who don’t drink at all to those who are training or pregnant. It’s a new social movement. Given my background I’m intrigued by the psychology angle; it’s almost like a social experiment. The atmosphere in the bar is fascinating. We have lovely glassware, music and drinks and there’s a natural levity that happens during a night; you see the placebo effect in action and people leave feeling giddy or tipsy. Alongside, we are developing non-alcoholic drinks with functional benefits.”

THE FOOD CONSULTANT

Oonagh Monahan MEngSc 1991 Alpha Omega “After a science degree from NUIG and postgraduate study in food science and technology in Kevin Street, I was awarded a scholarship for a UCD research master’s degree in the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering. Heinz funded a two-year research project in shelf stability – I developed a predictive curve on food emulsion.

Afterwards I joined a graduate development programme at Manor Bakeries in the UK, part of Ranks Hovis McDougall. I worked on Mr Kipling cakes, which I loved, and then returned to Ireland to work for Kerry Group at Grove Turkeys in Monaghan – tough! – before eight years as a production manager for a business making veterinary vaccines.

Next, I took up a position at the food technology centre in St Angela’s in Sligo. The work was all outreach and I enjoyed working with small artisan producers so much I decided to set up my own consultancy business in 2008. I work with start-ups, established food companies and organisations such as the Irish Bread Bakers Association. My clients include Burren Smokehouse, Cabots of Westport and Mash Direct. I work on new products, products for new markets, packaging, shelf life and innovation systems, as well as strategy. Through my work mentoring start-up companies, I produced a package of information which I turned into a book called Money for Jam.”

THE CELEBRITY CHEF

Catherine Fulvio (Byrne) BA German and Irish 1986 Chef, Cookery Teacher, Television Presenter “After graduating from UCD, I joined Bank of Ireland and did my banking exams, and a few years later I took a postgraduate diploma in public relations and worked in PR and marketing.

I was born and raised at Ballyknocken House, which my parents ran as a farmhouse B&B, with all the food coming fresh from the garden and the farm. It was popular for hillwalking holidays, and I grew up making sandwiches for packed lunches and helping my mother in the kitchen. I always knew that I would come back to it eventually but it was important that I spent time away.

After my mum died in 2000, I went to Ballymaloe Cookery School to improve my cooking skills so I’d be able to take over from her. Then in 2003, I opened my own cookery school in the old milking parlour. We’ve always had a lot of guests from Germany and as I teach classes and provide recipes in German, I get some use out of my UCD degree! My TV shows and books do well in Germany and in other countries too; I was delighted to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy for my series A Taste of Ireland.

During the pandemic our online cookery classes, courses and live cookery lessons were very popular and we intend for them to continue, even though we have reopened for in-person classes. We are also planning to go into farm production, with a range of artisan food products to give tourists – and locals – a taste of Wicklow.”

THE BLACK PUDDING MAKER

Eileen Ashe (Maher) MBS Marketing 1991 Annascaul Black Pudding Co “I did a HDip before my masters and worked in hotel and catering management and industrial catering, while teaching part-time in Cathal Brugha Street. In 1997, I moved to what is now MTU Kerry Campus in Tralee.

My husband Thomas grew up in Annascaul (near Dingle) and his family had been making black pudding in their shop since 1916, so I decided to take a career break to see if we could grow their business. Our recipe today is the same as it was back then, other than the spicing. It’s a Kerry cake-style pudding made using fresh beef blood.

We’ve added a white pudding and sausages to the range, and during the pandemic we started making sausage rolls which have been a huge success, a COVID monster! For the sausages, we only use Irish pork belly and local ingredients such as onions from the Maharees; provenance is important to us. We make everything by hand so on production days it’s all hands on deck. When we are not in production I work on marketing and liaising with customers and Thomas and I share the accounting responsibilities.

We are very busy in summer with all the tourism in Dingle and also at Christmas. Our products are stocked in several shops in Dublin. Surfers who tried the sausages when they were surfing at Inch beach went to Peter Caviston and told him he had to stock them, and that’s how they ended up on the shelves in Cavistons.”

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Cliona De Vallier (Swan) Postgraduate diploma, Special Educational Needs 2010 Pizza da Piero “I did my original degree in Maynooth and worked as a teacher in the UK, where I also took a degree in psychology with Open University. After I returned to Ireland, I took the postgraduate diploma at UCD. My husband Piero set up Pizza da Piero in 2007 with a small loan, and initially he sold the pizza bases in markets and supplied individual shops. I took a career break from my job at St Andrews College in Booterstown to help grow the business as a brand. I went back last year but I’m now on parental leave. I plan to return to St Andrew’s in 2022.

Initially, my role was to look for supports for employment and machinery, to work on the logo and packaging, and generally to get the message across. Now it’s more HR and recruitment. We are based in an industrial unit in Rathcoole and we are not a small artisan business any more. We employ 20 people and make 10,000 pizza bases a day. The process is largely unchanged since the beginning and we still make everything from scratch, resting the dough over two days before par-baking, cooling and packing. With any food business the challenge is to scale up without any deterioration in quality.

During the pandemic, our business sky-rocketed and we took on six more people. We are now stocked in multiple supermarkets and are working with Enterprise Ireland to look at the possibility of export in the future. We are also looking at adding new products to our range.

When I was in school and college I did part-time casual work in kitchens and restaurants, and I’ve always been mad into cooking. I really wasn’t aiming to have a career in the food business but I was needed so it happened. It’s enjoyable but relentless.”

THE CULINARY INTERPRETER

Manuela Spinelli BA English and German 1997 Euro-Toques Ireland “I first came to Ireland as a high school student and spent two summers staying with a family in Goatstown while learning English. After school I went to university in Italy for a year but I dropped out, and the following year I enrolled in UCD. I wanted to have an experience abroad.

I grew up with good food and while a student I worked in an ice cream parlour, an Irish pub and a Michelin-star restaurant. Despite my interest in food, I was planning a career in languages.

In 1995 my friend, chef Luciano Tona, introduced me to Chapter One’s Ross Lewis, and I started to work on events around food, including with Euro-Toques, whose objective is to preserve local culinary culture. Euro-Toques’ member chefs, cooks and producers are part of a nurturing community of like-minded professionals who pride themselves on being the custodians of Irish food culture and work to a high set of principles as set out in the Euro-Toques Code of Honour. My role is very much about helping chefs connect with small artisan producers to support a sustainable food culture. This means promoting working with quality seasonal local produce. I’ve been in Ireland for 28 years now and witnessed the evolution: people are much more aware now of what Irish food is and they are proud of it. The produce here is amazing – there’s the same buzz around food that there is in Italy.’’

THE CHOCOLATIER

Patricia Farrell BA Geography and Greek & Roman Civilisation 1984, MA Geography 1987 Wilde Irish Chocolates “I left UCD with no trade or profession as such but a great understanding of the Irish landscape. I worked in the heritage and tourism industries before my husband and I decided we should do something for ourselves. I would describe myself as a chocoholic of the highest order, so something involving chocolate seemed a good idea. We identified a gap in the market to build a business around making chocolate with heritage designs for the tourist market. That was our initial focus when we started in 1997/8. Since then the business has evolved and we are now in the mainstream chocolate market too.

Our factory is in Tuamgraney on the shores of Lough Derg. Pre-COVID-19 we had international tourists coming for factory visits and taste and make experiences. We also have Wilde Irish chocolate shops in Doolin and in the Limerick Milk Market.

We taught ourselves how to make chocolate from books and courses. Once you learn to temper – to achieve the mouthfeel, shine and snap that everyone likes, and to manage shelf life – it is very forgiving and great fun to work with. We make all our chocolate by hand.

I’m still a chocoholic, it drives innovation. Because we make everything by hand, it’s easy to test things in small batches. Our latest is chocolate with seaweed.”

THE FOOD POLICY EXPERT

Ruth Hegarty MSc Economics 2003 Egg and Chicken “I’ve always been interested in food. When I was leaving school I wanted to be a chef but my parents had other ideas so I did a degree in English and Italian in NUIG. Then I enrolled in a masters at UCD, which incorporated modules on European economics, law, politics and business. It was intense – I was the only one in the class who hadn’t studied any of those subjects before.

Professor Raymond O’Rourke, now Chair of the European Food Safety Authority, was one of our guest lecturers, and he ended up supervising my dissertation on PDOs (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGIs (Protected Geographical Indication), the mechanisms by which Europe protects traditional specialty foods. That helped open the door to a job with Euro-Toques. Ross Lewis of Chapter One interviewed me and he liked that I’d worked in the kitchen at Drimcong, with the late Gerry Galvin, and that my mother had a small bakery.

In October 2014, I set up Egg and Chicken, a food consultancy focused on sustainability and community. I work with farmers and small food producers, helping them with diversification through food tourism or selling direct. We advocate for the survival of artisan food methods and sustainable agriculture, inform the public and give greater recognition to the role of food in health, culture and society. I’ve also been involved with the Food on the Edge symposium since the outset.

I’m passionate about food policy and involved in some interesting projects on a local level. I’m currently studying for a master’s degree in Food Policy at the City University of London.”

THE ARTISAN PRODUCER

Aisling Roche Flanagan BAgrSc 1990 Velvet Cloud “I grew up in Dun Laoghaire, but my mother was from a farming background. I spent childhood summers on my uncle’s pig and dairy farm in Mitchelstown, and I always loved animals and the countryside. I didn’t have enough points for veterinary science so I decided agricultural science was the next best thing. It was the best decision I ever made. Michael Flanagan, now my husband, was in my class but we didn’t go out until final year; it was a slow burn!

After UCD I started a graduate programme with what is now Bord Bia. The degree was great because of the diversity of people I met, the network I developed and the experience I had. It helped me massively on this career path. I worked with them in Milan for seven years and then Paris, before taking on a role with Heinz, also in Paris. Back in Ireland, I worked at Ogilvy for a while and then took on a role in UCD lecturing in marketing in the School of Business, which I have done ever since.

We settled between Claremorris and Knock on a small outfarm to Michael’s family farm. We thought the lifestyle would be better here but we knew the farm wasn’t big enough to provide us with a family income.

We wondered why more sheep were not being milked in Ireland. Starting in 2013, we developed products in the kitchen and sent them out to chefs. In 2015 we were granted licences to produce food. Pre-COVID our business was 60 per cent retail and 40 per cent restaurants, but we pivoted and now it’s 20 per cent online, 20 per cent restaurants and 60 per cent retail. We are lucky that the trend for fermented food is growing, as is awareness of the gut microbiome and gut-brain axis. We are stocked in some high-end stores in Germany and London, and I think the future is bright.”

THE ZERO WASTE SHOPKEEPER

Jess Dollinger MSc Humanitarian Action 2014 The Good Neighbour “When I had the choice of seven different universities around Europe that offer the same masters it was an easy decision to come to UCD as I had visited Ireland before and loved it.

After graduating I moved back to Toronto with my Irish partner. Like most people I was sick of the amount of plastic waste I was generating and one day I went to visit a zero-waste store to see what it was all about. I thought it would be expensive but everything was the same price as it would be in a regular shop and it was as easy to shop. I thought, ‘That’s it, I’m going to open a shop like this when we go back to Ireland’.

We opened in December 2019. It has been both amazing and difficult. We were definitely thrown in at the deep end with the pandemic but things are improving all the time in terms of awareness around waste, so we always have new customers coming in. We source as much Irish produce as possible, including fruit, vegetables and eggs and I’m always happy to substitute an imported product with an Irish one if a producer gets in touch. I love seeing regular customers come in with their jars each week, it’s got to the point that if one of the Wednesday people doesn’t show up on Wednesday, I wonder where they are.”

THE CHEF AND GENDER ACTIVIST

Dr Mary Farrell BA History and Politics 1997, MA Politics 1999 Mortons “I enrolled in UCD as a mature student after a boring civil service job followed by time spent travelling in Europe, working in restaurants. I learned a lot about food and how kitchens work, and I still have a passion for classic French food.

I cooked in restaurants to support myself while I was studying. I met my husband Richard Fitzpatrick in the masters room at UCD and after we graduated we went to Australia; I worked in restaurants in Melbourne.

When we came back to Ireland I opened my own business, Café Fresh, which I ran for twelve years. Australia was a big influence on my cooking style, Asian fusion was huge when we were there.

I took up my current role at Morton’s in 2015, and started a PhD at TU Dublin at the same time. My thesis is titled “A Critical Analysis of Gender Inequality in the Chef Profession in Ireland”, inspired by years of working in the industry here. Although you see more coverage of female chefs in the media, and some thrive in the world of casual dining, it is still very tough for women in fine dining and particularly in hotels, which are run on very traditional lines using the hierarchical brigade system. There are plenty of women working as pastry chefs though.”

THE RESTAURANT OWNER

Nicola Crowley BA Spanish 2003 Mezze Restaurant “When I finished my degree, I started out teaching English as a foreign language, and that took me around the world. I spent a year in Spain as well as time teaching and travelling abroad, which influenced how I think about food. Seeing different cultures, how they drink coffee and eat more salads, changed the way I eat. I met my husband, Dvir in Israel and when we decided to come back to Ireland we wanted to set up a food business. Neither of us had worked in food before but we were always hosting parties and cooking for friends. We had an awareness of the effect food has on your mind and body and, when we started our family, we became even more aware of the importance of food labelling. We started Mezze selling dips and salads at farmers’ markets. In Israel, Dvir’s most-requested dish was his hummus which is funny because hummus is everywhere there. We developed a range of lavosh flatbreads which are now available nationwide, and we’ve just launched tahini chocolate chip cookies.

We opened the Mezze shop, café, deli and courtyard for outdoor dining in 2019. Tramore is gaining a reputation as a foodie hub and we have local support. I wouldn’t be doing what I do without my UCD experience.”

THE YEAR IS 1936 and a young UCD student has just handed in her PhD dissertation on Virginia Woolf. Now, waste not want not, she is using up the draft pages, writing notes and ideas on the blank back pages, and finally a full short story, entitled ‘Miss Holland’, is produced. Three years later that story is published in the Dublin Magazine and a brilliant career is launched. MARY JOSEPHINE LAVIN (1912-1996) went on to become a celebrated author of two novels and 19 collections of short stories, many of which first appeared in The Atlantic or The New Yorker. Elected to the highest echelon of Aosdána, in recognition of “singular and sustained distinction in the arts”, Lavin wrote of the intricacies of family life and relationships and of life in the crumbling big houses of Co. Meath. For a view of an Ireland long gone, read her Tales From Bective Bridge, published in 1942 and still in print today.

Lavin wasn’t the first internationally admired writer to study at UCD. That distinction goes, of course, to JAMES AUGUSTINE ALOYSIUS JOYCE (1882-1941), who graduated in 1902 with a degree in Modern Languages and who left Ireland in 1904, returning only on occasional visits until his death in 1941, two years after the publication of Finnegan’s Wake. Joyce lived a precarious life on the continent with his wife Nora Barnacle and their children Giorgio and Lucia, occasionally living a high life, thanks to publishing fees and sponsors, but often broke, even after the publication of his masterpiece Ulysses in 1922.

One of Joyce’s most fervent admirers was novelist and playwright KATE O’BRIEN (1897-1974), who graduated in English and French in 1919 before working as a teacher in London, a governess in Spain and as a journalist on the foreign desk at the Manchester Guardian. After the success of her first play Distinguished Villa in 1926, she took to full-time writing and won prestigious awards for her debut novel, Without My Cloak. Many of her books dealt with issues of feminism, sexuality and alienation and like Joyce, her work was censored. Her 1936 novel, Mary Lavelle, was banned in Ireland and Spain. She frequently referenced Joyce in her work, drawing attention to his exiled status as a “lonely genius”.

The absurdities and repressive nature of Irish life in the 1930s and 1940s are richly chronicled by BRIAN O’NOLAN (1911-1966) aka FLANN O’BRIEN both in his novels – At Swim-Two-Birds, 1939 and The Third Policeman – written in 1939-1940, published posthumously in 1967, and his long-running ‘Cruskeen Lawn’ column for The Irish Times under the pseudonym Myles Na Gopaleen. Born in Co. Tyrone in 1911, he graduated from UCD in 1932. Like Joyce 30 years earlier, he was a leading light of the UCD Literary and Historical Society (L&H). He had a reputation for obsessing over his writing and also for despairing of the inadequacy of all writing after Joyce.

Poet, critic and novelist ANTHONY CRONIN (1928-2016 ) originally studied Architecture at UCD before switching to Law and finally taking a degree in History and Economics. But it was the literary world that drew him most and, during a stint in Spain he wrote his first novel, The Life of Riley (1964).

He was fascinated by the literary characters of Dublin in the 1950s and his 1976 memoir of Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan, Dead as Doornails, stands out, according to Fintan O’Toole, as “the best evocation of the bohemian literary culture in Dublin that centred on McDaid’s pub and the bedsits and dives of Baggotonia.” As cultural advisor to Charlie Haughey, he was influential in the establishment of IMMA, Aosdána and Bloomsday.

London-born JULIA O’FAOLÁIN (1932-2020), daughter of the great short story writer Seán O’Faoláin, was brought up in Killiney and educated at UCD, followed by stints of study in Rome and Paris. The O’Faoláin home brimmed with writers and artists, and Seán O’Faoláin edited The Bell literary journal from an outhouse in the garden. As a girl, O’Faoláin served tea to Elizabeth Bowen, Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan. As an adult she lived mainly abroad, in England, Italy and America. Her novels included No Country for Young Men, which was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize, Women in the Wall (1975) and The Obedient Wife (1982). Her 2013 memoir, Trespassers, recalled her parents’ literary lives.

JOHN MCGAHERN (1934-2006), who graduated in 1957, painted a darker, more painful view of rural Ireland in his novels of the 1960s and 1970s, culminating in his 1990 classic Amongst Women, which was nominated for the Booker Prize. Considered one of the most important writers of the latter half of the last century, McGahern won numerous awards for his work, which explored the repression and poverty of rural Ireland. His last novel, That They May Face the Rising Sun, published in 2002, is by contrast a more conciliatory read, focusing on the beauty of the countryside of his native Co. Leitrim.

If repression and unease pervades much of Irish literature in the first half of the 20th century, MAEVE BINCHY (1939-2012) provided buckets of sunshine, love and hope in the second half. Having studied History and worked at The Irish Times as Women’s Editor and London Editor, she gave up journalism to write a string of bestsellers that made her one of Ireland’s most-loved authors and also, possibly, its richest. Her 1982 book, Light a Penny Candle, sold for a then record sum for a first novel (£52,000) and her novels were translated into over 40 languages.

Journalist, TV producer, memoirist and novelist NUALA O’FAOLÁIN (1940- 2008) was an Irish Times columnist who shot to fame with her 1996 autobiography Are You Somebody? in which she chronicled a hard childhood as one of nine children of a social diarist known as Terry O who swanked around Dublin while his family went without. The candid revelation of her longterm relationship with journalist Nell McCafferty also caused ripples and the book became an instant classic.

From Sligo, to UCD, to RTÉ to Hollywood neatly sums up Oscar-winning NEIL JORDAN (1950- ) who has run parallel careers as a film-maker and a writer. A graduate in History and English, his first book Night in Tunisia,1976, won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize. While working for RTÉ he wrote storylines for the children’s programme Wanderly Wagon. His award-winning screenplays and adaptations include Mona Lisa, The Crying Game, Michael Collins, The Butcher Boy and The End of The Affair. His latest book is The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small.

Monaghan-born EVELYN CONLON (1952- ) attended UCD as a teenager before heading to Australia in 1972, returning to Ireland overland, by bus, three years later. An early winner of the New Irish Writing competition, she has produced four novels and several collections of short stories, including her latest, Moving Around The Place, which imagines characters dealing with life in different parts of the world.

Donegal playwright, poet, novelist and scriptwriter FRANK MCGUINNESS (1953- ) studied English at UCD and not long after his graduation in 1974 had his first great stage hit, the acclaimed Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. His other plays include The Factory Girls, Innocence, Carthaginians, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Dolly West’s Kitchen and many more. His adaptations of classic plays include Lorca’s Yerma; Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya; Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera and dramatisations of James Joyce’s The Dead and Du Maurier’s Rebecca. His first novel, Arimathea, was published by Brandon/O’Brien Press in 2013. He lectured at several universities before returning to UCD in 1997 as lecturer in English and Creative Writing. He is a holder of the UCD Ulysses Medal, the highest honour the University can bestow.

EILÍS NÍ DHUIBHNE (1954-) studied English and Folklore at UCD and is one of the country’s most gifted teachers of creative writing, as well as being president of the Folklore of Ireland Society. She has written several novels in both Irish and English, as well as children’s stories and superb short story collections, including The Pale Gold of Alaska and The Shelter of Neighbours, as well as several plays and the memoir Twelve Thousand Days (2018).

COLM TÓIBÍN, (1955- ) graduated from UCD in 1975 and during the early 1980s worked as a journalist and edited Magill magazine. He lived for a time in Spain, an experience that produced an early bestselling novel, The South. A string of books set in his native Wexford, including The Heather Blazing and The Blackwater Lightship, further established him as a writer but it was the 2009 publication of Brooklyn and the subsequent movie starring Saoirse Ronan that turbo-charged his reputation. His tenth novel, The Magician, on the life of Thomas Mann, will be published in September 2021.

English and Geography were RODDY DOYLE’S (1958-) chosen subjects at UCD. In 1982, after a stint as a teacher, he lived briefly in London in a bedsit, writing a novel he later described as “shite”. Several notebooks later, he had two novels under his belt, but, tired of rejections, he decided to self-publish his next novel in 1987: The Commitments. The book was picked up by a UK publisher and Doyle achieved fame in 1991 when director Alan Parker made it into a film showing a gritty, exuberant side of Dublin that chimed with a euphoria generated by Italia 1990. Two of his other books that make up the Barrytown trilogy, The Van (1991) and The Snapper (1993), were also adapted for cinema. In 1993, Roddy Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. His latest novel, Love, which recounts the story of two old friends reliving their youth and loves, while on a pub crawl around Dublin, was released in 2020.

An early encounter with Seamus Heaney, who came to talk to her class about poetry, inspired MARITA CONLONMCKENNA (1956-) with the notion that even ordinary seeming people could write, and as a young mother she attended writing classes in UCD under the tutelage of Dr Pat Donlon, who later became the director of the National Library. It was Donlon who launched Conlon-McKenna’s debut book for children, Under The Hawthorn Tree, the first in what would become The Children of the Famine series. In all, Conlon-McKenna has written over 20 books for children and has also written bestselling adult fiction inspired by the Famine and the fate of young Irish women in the Magdalen laundries.

EAMON DELANEY (1962-) joined the diplomatic service and served Ireland and later became a full-time writer. His 1995 novel, The Casting of Mr O’Shaughnessy was a curiosity recalling what became known as the O’Shaugnessy Hoax. In 1986, Delaney applied for a government pension to be granted to one Cornelius O’Shaughnessy on the basis of his participation in the Irish War of Independence. Singer Gavin Friday lent Delaney the name and service details of his own grandfather, an actual veteran of 1921, to make the application seem real, and the application was eventually granted after Charles Haughey intervened. Delaney confessed to the hoax before any pension payments were made. His 2001 account of his eight years as a diplomat, An Accidental Diplomat, was a bestseller, praised for its wicked wit. In 2009, after a stint as editor of Magill magazine, he published a book about his late father, the renowned sculptor and painter Edward Delaney.

Novelist, broadcaster, and brother to Sinéad O’Connor, JOSEPH O’CONNOR (1963- ) worked as a part-time journalist while studying at UCD, but his editor at the time, Vincent Browne, told him he would not make a great journalist because he was a writer. So he wrote novels, the first being Cowboys and Indians (1991), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. The winner of multiple awards, including the Irish PEN award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature, O’Connor is a member of Aosdána and a founder of the UL Frank McCourt Creative Writing summer school in New York.

MARIAN KEYES (1963-) is one of Ireland’s most popular writers of all time, with over 35 million books sold worldwide. Having studied Law at UCD she moved to London in the mid-1980s but bouts of depression and alcoholism threatened to derail her. After treatment, she found solace in writing and her first novel, Watermelon, was an instant hit. Sixteen novels followed, including her latest, Grown Ups. She has also written several non-fiction books, including a cookbook, Saved by Cake.

Described as “a giant of letters” by Time magazine, EMMA DONOGHUE (1969-) graduated in 1990 with a first-class degree in English and French, and then received a PhD from Cambridge in 1997. Her first novel, Stir Fry, was set in Dublin before the boom, and was followed by two further novels and a host of short stories published in Granta, The Lady, New Statesman and many other journals. Her 2010 novel Room, a finalist for the Man Booker prize, picked up many international awards and was made into a film, for which she wrote the screenplay. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, it went on to win the Best Actress Academy Award for Brie Larson and an IFTA award for best film.

With a BA in Greek and Roman Civilisation and a master’s degree in Film Studies, JOHN BUTLER (1972-) is an IFTA-nominated director and a novelist. Films based on his books are Handsome Devil (2016) and The Stag (2013), and he is also the author of the novel The Tenderloin (2011).

HELEN CULLEN (1981-) followed her degree in Theatre Studies at UCD with a seven- year stint working at RTÉ before moving to London to write full time. Her debut novel The Lost Letters of William Woolf was published to critical acclaim in 2018 and her second novel, The Truth Must Dazzle, is out now.

HENRIETTA MCKERVEY (1970-), a graduate of the MFA programme in Creative Writing in UCD, hails from Belfast, and lives in Dublin. A winner of the Hennessy New Irish Writing First Fiction Award in 2015, her fourth book, A Talented Man, was published last year by Hachette. She has directed the programme for the Echoes Festival, which celebrates Maeve Binchy.

KEVIN POWER (1981-) completed BA, MA and PhD studies in UCD and went on to write a hugely successful first novel, Bad Day in Blackrock, just as the Irish economy collapsed in 2008. The book scooped a Hennessy New Irish Writing Award as well as the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. It was translated into several languages and was made into a film directed by Lenny Abrahamson, called What Richard Did (2012). Power spent some years working out what to do next while honing his writing skills with stories and essays. His latest novel, White City, came out earlier this year.

COLIN BARRETT (1982-), a 2014 graduate of the MA in Creative Writing, was showered in prizes for his debut collection of short stories, Young Skins, which was awarded the Rooney Prize, The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and The Guardian First Book Award. His stories have appeared in The Stinging Fly and The New Yorker.

With his hit debut novel, Diving for Pearls, published earlier this year, JAMIE O’CONNELL (1985-) credits teachers Éilis NI Dhuibhne, James Ryan and Paul Perry for helping him hone his writing skills on the creative writing course at UCD – a course that also led to him being signed by the prestigious Marianne Gunn O’Connor agency. Set in Dubai, it’s a tightly written, elegant book about six people living very different lives in the glittering but strange city. O’Connell, who spent time as a Jehovah’s Witness in his 20s, and several years working in the book trade, now lives in Kenmare and is teaching creative writing classes himself – back at UCD.

EMILY HOURICAN (1971-) was born in Belfast and grew up in Brussels before moving to Dublin in 1990, where she completed BA and MA studies in UCD. She is the author of one non-fiction book about motherhood, and five novels, the most recent published in September 2020, called The Glorious Guinness Girls. It was nominated for the Best Popular Fiction Awards at the 2020 Irish Book Awards. In 2015, Hourican was diagnosed with mouth cancer and documented her experience in a series of candid diaries published in The Sunday Independent.

ANNE GRIFFIN (1969-), an alumna with a BA in History and MA in Creative Writing, was honoured with the John McGahern Award for Literature from Roscommon Council in 2017, in recognition of her short story works and her pursuit of a career as a novelist. In 2019, she published her debut novel When All Is Said and was subsequently awarded Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Her second novel, Listening Still, was published in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand in April 2021. It is due for release in the US and Canada in early 2022.

Cork-based writer DISHA BOSE (1990-)will see her book Dirty Laundry released in Ireland, the UK and the US in early 2023. Described as “domestic noir” exploring the dark side of suburbia, the work tells the story of three women whose secrets and lies lead to one of their murders. Born in India, and living in Ireland for the past six years, Bose worked in the tech industry before undertaking a master’s degree in Creative Writing where she was mentored by award-winning writer Anne Enright.

■ Find out more about Irish writers at MoLI, the Museum of Literature Ireland established by UCD and the National Library of Ireland, which offers year-round exhibitions and the NLI’s Joyce collections. See www.moli.ie

THIS YEAR HAS been extraordinary, for the most part for all the wrong reasons. However, as we reflect on Tokyo 2020 in 2021, the number of UCD alumni, including Ad Astra Scholars and Sport Scholars, who competed in this year’s Olympics and (as we go to press) are about to compete in the Paralympics, is indeed, extraordinary. Four UCD students and 22 alumni represented Ireland at the Olympics, and three alumni will compete at the Paralympics. Accompanying the athletes in hockey, athletics and the Paralympics were a further three UCD alumni support staff. Watching the games there were former UCD sports stars and indeed former alumni Olympians – Derval O’Rourke, David Matthews and Earl McCarthy – providing punditry in front of the cameras. Behind the scenes, alumna Dr Marie Elaine Grant has been the lead physiotherapist for the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission for the past three Olympic Games, leading over 700 physiotherapists at each Games.

The women’s hockey team captured the hearts and minds of the nation when against all odds they claimed a silver medal in the Hockey World Cup in London in 2018.

Tokyo did not go as the team had hoped, with losses to the Netherlands, Germany and India before finally bowing out after a 2-0 defeat to Great Britain in their final Pool A clash. UCD students Sarah McAuley, Hannah McLoughlin and Michelle Carey were part of the team along with UCD alumni Katie Mullan (Captain), Deirdre Duke, Anna O’Flanagan, Lena Tice and Chloe Watkins. The Irish team manager was UCD graduate and UCD first team coach, Lisa Jacob. Another Olympic debutant team to make headlines were the Irish Rugby 7’s. Anthony Eddy’s side created history on a magical evening for Irish rugby at the Stade Louis II with victory over France in the final of the World Rugby Sevens Repechage. This win secured the twelfth and final place in the Men’s 7’s competition in Tokyo. The team’s Olympic campaign proved disappointing, with losses to South Africa and USA, and eventually a defeat to Kenya in the ninth/tenth place playoff. The Irish Men’s 7’s panel featured eight UCD alumni including UCD Clubmen Billy Dardis (Captain), Harry McNulty and Gavin Mullin with their fellow alumni teammates including Foster Horan, Terry Kennedy, Bryan Mollen and the veteran 7’s player, Ian Fitzpatrick.

In this centenary year of UCD Athletics Club (see page 54) it’s interesting to note that the Club has produced more Olympians and World Championship competitors than any other UCD sports club. Past Club members include two-time Olympian James Nolan, Derval O’Rourke, David Matthews, Deirdre Ryan, Joanne Cuddihy and Ciara Everard. This year, former UCD Athletic Club athletes Ciara Mageean and Mark English were two of the few returning competitors for Team Ireland at Tokyo.

Mark English qualified as a doctor in 2019 and, prior to the postponement of Tokyo, was completing his internship in Dublin’s Mater Misericordiae Hospital. His coach, Feidhlim Kelly, a UCD BSc Sport and Exercise Management alumnus, now considered one of the best athletics coaches in Ireland, producing three Olympians for Tokyo, was appointed middle distance coach to Team Ireland.

June 29 2021 was the cut-off date to achieve qualification for Tokyo. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, English travelled to Spain and, on that exact date, clocked a time of 1:44.70. Not only was this PB good enough to qualify for Tokyo, but English shaved 0.11 off the longstanding Irish record held by two-time Olympian and fellow UCD graduate David Matthews, who ran 1:44.82 in Rieti in September 1995.

At Tokyo, admittedly in the form of his life, things just didn’t go according to plan for English. He simply left himself with too much to do in the final 100m, his hopes of advancing ending after he finished fourth in a time of 1:46.75. “Coming into the year my two goals were to qualify for the Olympics and get a new Irish record and I did that. To ask for anything else was always going to be a bonus,” said English.

Physiotherapist Ciara Mageean, a European medallist and national record holder, finished tenth in her heat in a time of 4:07.29, failing to qualify for the Olympic final. After the race, Mageean revealed she had torn her calf muscle the week before.

Fellow Physiotherapy alumna Sarah Lavin had many hurdles to overcome in the lead-up to the Games. Having ruptured two ligaments in her ankle, Lavin saw the pandemic postponement of the Olympics as an opportunity. She became only the second Irish woman ever to break the 13-second barrier in the 100m Hurdles at the World Athletics Continental Tour silver meeting in Madrid, quite a confidence boost pre-Tokyo. Lavin finished seventh in her heat in 13.16 seconds, and unfortunately did not progress through to the semi-finals.

At 20, UCD Law student Sarah Healy was one of the youngest members of Team Ireland. She finished eleventh in her 1500m heat in 4:09.78. In sailing, former UCD student Annalise Murphy finished 18th overall after ten races. The Rio silver medallist said she was “looking forward to a normal life” after more than twelve years spent chasing her dreams.

The growth in rowing was a standout feature of this Olympics. Looking back to London in 2012, Sanita Puspure was Ireland’s only representative at Dorney Lake. In 2021, she was one of 13 rowers competing for Ireland. Fast forward to 2015 and the O’Donovans, Paul (a UCD Physiotherapy student) and Gary, earned their Olympic spot in Rio with an eleventh place finish at the 2015 World Championships. As the 2016 Olympics approached, they won gold at the European and then went on to win Irish rowing’s first-ever Olympic medal. Paul O’Donovan continued to dominate lightweight rowing after Rio. Then, in Tokyo, with Fintan McCarthy replacing brother Gary in the powerhouse Irish lightweight double, they entered the games as red-hot favourites and didn’t disappoint. They stormed to victory to win Ireland’s first-ever gold medal in Olympic rowing.

Women’s rowing wasn’t part of the Olympics until 1976 and Rio 2016 saw the first-ever women’s lightweight double of UCD graduate Claire Lambe and Sinead Lynch make the final, finishing sixth. Claire is, of course, the elder sister of Eimear Lambe who, with teammates Aifric Keogh, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty, are now Olympic bronze medallists.

All four only came together in the same boat for the first time six months ago, earning their roles during national trials in March. Despite winning a silver medal at the European Championships in April, they didn’t qualify for Tokyo until the last chance saloon that was the Lucerne Regatta in May. Aileen Crowley took strongly to rowing while studying architecture in UCD and, along with Monika Dukarska, qualified the Irish women’s pair for Tokyo at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. After a great start to Tokyo, they had to settle for a fifth place finish in their B final.

Longford’s Darragh Greene became the first Irish swimmer to qualify for Tokyo in 2019 when he qualified for the 100m breaststroke at the 2019 FINA World Championships, clocking 59.82 in Gwanju. Unfortunately, he missed out in his bid to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 100m and 200m breaststroke. Greene closed out his first Olympics with 2:11.09 and seventh place in the heat in 200m breaststroke. He finishes 23rd overall, adding to the 29th in the 100m breaststroke.

Last but by no means least, British Open Champion Shane Lowry teamed up with Rory McIlroy in what was certainly an excellent chance at a medal in golf. Lowry, a former UCD Sports Scholar, had a number of good starting rounds but a disappointing finish saw him slip down the board into 22nd place.

The calibre of the UCD students and alumni who competed at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 is testament to the support of their families, coaches and friends, and to how UCD’s world-class structures, people and processes help these world-class athletes on their journey.

UCD ALUMNI AT TOKYO 2020

PARALYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020

Among the 29 para-athletes competing in Tokyo, UCD alumni Colin Judge, Patrick Flanagan and Kerrie Leonard will fly the flag in their respective sports.

Colin Judge (Actuary & Financial Studies 2017) was table tennis European champion in 2017 after narrowly missing out on the Rio Paralympics by just one place the year before. He is also five-time Irish National champion and was ranked number one in the world at U23 level in his class. Having missed out on automatic qualification at the World Qualification Tournament event in Slovenia, he was announced as one of the wild card athletes. A former Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholar, he took a two-year sabbatical from his work as an actuarial analyst with KPMG to concentrate on Japan.

Judge’s fellow Ad Astra alumnus Patrick Flanagan hails from Longford Swim club, the same club as Darragh Greene. Graduating from Economics and Finance this year, Flanagan won several medals at the European Para Youth Games in 2015 before making his senior international debut three years later at the 2018 Para Swimming European Championships in Dublin. The following year he went on to represent Ireland at the 2019 Para Swimming World Championships in London. Flanagan achieved the qualification time for Tokyo in January 2021 but, with a limited number of places available and with others also achieving the time, it was a nervous wait until the official team announcement.

Irish teammate, archer Kerrie Leonard, like Judge, missed out on Rio by the smallest of margins. She graduated from UCD with a master’s degree in Marketing in 2019. Finishing fifth in the final qualifier for Tokyo in the Czech Republic, she was selected in the Para-Archery Individual Compound Open category.

Irish Para Athletics team manager James Nolan, the former UCD sports scholarship student, is now the UCD athletics high-performance coach. A two-time Olympian, Nolan was one of Ireland’s best mid-distance runners in the 1990s and 2000s. He has presided at eleven major Championships, including WPA European and World Championships and Paralympics.

■ www.ucd.ie/sport/scholarships