Maynooth Alumni Magazine 2016 Femme Formidable! The BRIDGE Femme Formidable Creating Cities Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason of the Future (BA 1980, MA 1981) on diplomacy, the MU Researchers awarded €2.4 million value of arts degrees and more… to shape the smart cities of the future Campus of the Future Plus Unrivalled facilities for Boom, Bust & Brexit students, alumni and staff International Appeal Graduations 2016 Maynooth University 1 President’s Message 20 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast CONTENTS Meet the Maynooth alumni behind 2 Graduations an inspiring travel podcast Welcome Class of 2016! 21 Spotlight on Science 4 Alumni events in 2016 Another busy alumni events calendar Teaching Heroes Recognised including the first ever London meet-up Three Maynooth alumni receive awards for their excellence in teaching 6 Alumni Reunion Reconnecting with familiar faces and 22 Campus of the Future meeting new ones at this year’s gathering President Philip Nolan shares his vision of the University and reveals 8 Deireadh Ré changes underway on campus An Dr Tadhg Ó Dúshláine ar scor 23 MaynoothWorks 9 Legal Eagle Business Incubation Hub celebrates From founding the Maynooth Law its first birthday Society to researching women on death row, a profile of Sharon Pia Hickey 14 24 International Appeal MU’s global appeal just keeps growing 10 Creating Cities of the Future among international students MU researchers awarded €2.4m to shape the smart cities of the future 25 A Helping Hand for Alumni from Alumni 11 30 Years in the Saddle Scholarship recipients share how the How the Galway Cycle went from humble award has aided their study paths beginnings to the premier student fundraiser 25 26 Good Sport 12 Boom, Bust & Brexit All the action from another busy year in sport Insights and analysis from new book by alumnus and former ICTU chief executive, David Begg 28 Family Matters The Heffron family describe how attending 13 Nice Day for a White Wedding? Maynooth has become a family tradition Danielle O’Connell explores whether Irish brides are feminists 29 Access for All Inspiring tales from Maynooth University 14 Femme Formidable! Access Programme (MAP) trailblazers Diplomacy, the value of arts degrees and 22 more with Irish Ambassador to France 30 Maynooth Memories & Memorabilia and Monaco, Geraldine Byrne Nason 31 In Memoriam 18 Strong demand for New Curriculum Remembering the friends we’ve lost MU experiences highest ever growth in first preference applications 32 Class Notes ‘20 Memories of being a Maynooth student 19 Sigerson 40th Anniversary Reunion in the 1990s’ and more flashbacks Reliving the 1976 glory days at the 26 40th anniversary reunion Greetings fellow Maynoothians, It’s been a busy year in Maynooth alumni land with Another special ‘thank you’ is due to our Maynooth Alumni plenty of events and opportunities to come back to Advisory Board (MAAB) who tirelessly gave their time and campus, to meet friends and network (at home and experience at our meetings during 2016. With Chairman, Mark abroad) or to continue with life-long education via Greville (BA 1996) at the helm as we head into 2017, we look our alumni lecture series. See the photos and read forward to more insights and advice during the year ahead. more about these on pages 4-5. We had an addition to our Alumni Office team this year. Mary Our Alumni Lecture Series, is going from strength to strength so Larkin joined us in May as the Alumni Database Manager. So an expect more from us on that in the months ahead. November’s official Bridge welcome here to Mary! alumni lecture, which featured cutting-edge research on health Don‘t forget we’re on social media – so listen in and join the conversa- issues concerning obesity, one of the global epidemics, from Senior tion on #MadeinMaynooth and #Maynoothalumni. Spread the word Researcher and Maynooth alumnus, Dr Andy Hogan, was certainly too about The Bridge. It’s online on maynoothuniversity.ie/thebridge. a highlight for the alumni events calendar this year. (I believe I may revisit my relationship with chocolate!) And finally... congratulations to our newest alumni, the Class of 2016. Welcome to the Maynooth Alumni Community gang. A stand-out event for me this year was the ‘Preparing for the Workshop’ afternoon for our current students which took All the best, place in April. A special ‘thank you’ to alumni Joanne, Niamh and Seán for putting up their hands and answering our appeal for alumni contributors. Karen Kelly Alumni Officer Editor – Karen Kelly, Alumni Officer Words & Editing – Lisa Hughes Print – GPS Belfast Why not connect with us and be a part of the conversation? www.alumni-network.maynoothuniversity.ie 1 The Bridge President’s Message f 2016 has taught us anything, it’s how rapidly the some of the most pressing challenges we face today. world can change, in complex and unpredictable This year we have seen a particularly strong array of Iways. publications including steps forward in the develop- ment of new antibiotics, counteracting climate change, It is a year that has emphasised how vital an educated and improving emergency first response times to ter- and engaged citizenry is to prosperity and democracy. rorist attacks. We enrolled 300 new first year undergraduate students this year, and a little over 1,000 new postgraduates, Our dedicated teaching and important research has bringing our total student enrolment to 11,600. These seen us ranked as one of the world’s top 400 universi- students will graduate into that changing and unpre- ties in this year’s World University Rankings, published dictable world, but we know one thing for certain, that by Times Higher Education. our collective future depends on their ability to think We are determined not to rest on our laurels and we critically and respond creatively to whatever the future are accelerating our campus development plan with the has in store for them. opening of the new School of Education building and This places a special responsibility on educators to pre- 300 beds being added to our student accommodation pare students as critical thinkers and engaged citizens. this year. The next five years promise plenty more new This time last year, Maynooth University took a sig- and exciting developments. nificant step forward with the implementation of our Our alumni are a great source of pride for the University. new undergraduate curriculum – a unique proposition We are always excited to hear about how you are pro- in the Irish higher education sector - designed with the gressing, and I hope that you stay connected with us to needs of today’s students and tomorrow’s employers in engage in all of the exciting developments you’ll see in mind. This year we received a resounding endorsement the year ahead. from students for this decision with our highest ever level of first preference applications through the CAO. Le gach dea-ghuí, These students will avail of world-class teaching that is informed and supported by outstanding research and scholarship. Our researchers never shirk the difficult Professor Philip Nolan questions and time and time again confront and tackle President, Maynooth University Maynooth University Family, friends and lecturers joined the Class of 2016 as more than 3000 students were conferred with a range of Welcome degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level, includ- ing 47 PhD graduates. Class of 2016! New degrees awarded for the first time include the BBA in Marketing, BSc in Mathematics Education, BA in International Development, Master of Laws in International Justice, PME in Post-Primary Education and PME in Primary Education. Welcome newest Maynooth Alumni – see you at the Reunion in 2021! ‘Maynooth, you’ve been great!’ Amy Clarke Aidan McGuinness (BA 2016), Dymphna Gushinan Amy Clarke (BA 2016) (BA 2016), Violet Foley (BA 2016) Giulia Borello (BA 2016) Aurora Mather (BA 2016) Zoe Rogers (BA 2016), Emma Murphy (BA 2016), Siobhan O’Sullivan ‘Good Luck to (BA 2016), Edel Eglinton (BA 2016), Eimear Lowth (BA 2016) Kelly Monaghan (BA 2016), John Gormley (BA 2016) everyone in their future scientific endeavours’ Gerard Sheehan L to R: Caolan Harkin, Heather Gaffney, Briana Shiels, Kevin McKeon, John Brennan, Aideen Hillery, Stephanie Rocks, Clare Fitzgerald, Greg Copley, Ciara Nulty (BSc 2016), Shane Giggins (BSc 2016), Cian Lemass Roisin Cameron, Jamie McGowan, Gerard Sheehan, Ann Marie Coan, Sarah (BSc 2016), Luke Heaphy (BSc 2016), Cathriona Quill (BSc 2016) McFadden, Niamh Dempsey, Emer Lafferty, Shauna Campion, Azad Mohammed 2–3 The Bridge ‘It’s my favourite You can see photo from the more of these day by far!’ photos on our Mary Gorman Facebook page facebook.com/ maynoothalumni Mary Gorman (BA 2016) Olubukola Dasaolu (BSc 2016) Billy Martin (BSc 2016) Rajan Sambhavi Priyadarshini (BSc 2016) Abel Hii (BSc 2016) “Put your pride aside and ask your peers for help, sometimes you can learn a lot more from them than from lectures.” Keith Finnerty (PhD Engineering 2016) Sadhbh Moran (BSc 2016) Kashmira Zohoor (BSc 2016) Conor Connelly (BA 2016) Norah McLoughlin (BA 2016) Maynooth University Alumni Lecture puts the spotlight on the 2016 General Election Alumni February 2016 This year’s Faculty of Social Science alumni lecture ‘Ireland Votes 2016: Predictions, Predilections, and Partnerships’ took place just before the General Election on Wednesday 24 February and put the Events spotlight on the mechanics of this election (boundary changes, polit- from the past year Save the date: ical/vote trends, gender quotas). Key issues driving the debate and the the 2017 reunion electorate were explored by Maynooth University experts Professor will take place on John O’Brennan and Dr Mary Murphy from the Department of 16 September. Sociology, together with Dr Adrian Kavanagh and lecturer Claire Alumni Carol Spread the word! McGing from the Department of Geography.