Design by copperreed.com
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK
Honorary
DOCTORAL
CONFERRING CEREMONY
JANUARY 21 2009
Ollscoil Luimnigh, Luimneach, Éire
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Telephone: +353 61 202700
Fax: +353 61 330316
www.ul.ie
University of Limerick Mace
Plassey House, University of Limerick
Order of Ceremony
ACADEMIC PROCESSION
GUEST RISE
Opening of Convocation
Address of Welcome
CYNTHIA CARROLL
Reading of Citation
Conferring of Honorary Doctorate
SEAN DONLON
Reading of Citation
Conferring of Honorary Doctorate
DENIS LEONARD
Reading of Citation
Conferring of Honorary Doctorate
DAN TIERNEY
Reading of Citation
Professor Paul McCutcheon
Vice President Academic & Registrar
Mr Peter Malone, Chancellor
Professor Sarah Moore
Dean of Teaching and Learning
Professor Don Barry, President
Professor Sarah Moore
Dean of Teaching and Learning
Professor Don Barry, President
Professor Sarah Moore
Dean of Teaching and Learning
Professor Don Barry, President
Professor Sarah Moore
Dean of Teaching and Learning
Conferring of Honorary Doctorate
Professor Don Barry, President
Close of Convocation
Professor Paul McCutcheon
Vice President Academic & Registrar
GUESTS RISE
ACADEMIC PROCESSION
Cynthia Carroll
Citation for Conferring of Honorary Doctorate of Economic Science
Cynthia Carroll is honoured today for her major achievements as a leader of the
corporate world and especially of the metals manufacturing sector. Currently Ms
Carroll is Chief Executive at Anglo American Plc, the second-largest mining company
in the world. Previously she worked for Alcan Primary Metal and stepped down
from the posts of President and Chief Executive of that company in March 2007.
Ms Carroll delivered a keynote speech to the Global Reporting Initiative in 2008
and articulated her vision of how business development and human values can and
must be joined - ‘…the developing world needs minerals and metals in order to
meet the aspirations of billions, but upliftment has to be carried out in a way that is
sustainable, which includes challenges such as climate change, water availability and
respect for human rights’.
Ms Carroll was named as one of the 50 Women to Watch by the Wall Street Journal in
2006 and Forbes Magazine rated her the seventh most powerful woman in the world
in 2007.
Ms Carroll’s connections with the West of Ireland go back some years. After working
as a petroleum geologist for Amoco between 1982 and 1987, she began work at Alcan
Aluminium Corporation in 1989 while completing an MBA at Harvard University
Business School. By 1991 she had become Vice-President and General Manager
of Alcan Foil Products and took on the Presidency of Alcan Bauxite, Alumina and
Speciality Chemicals in 1998.
Cynthia Carroll’s contribution to the Limerick region has been significant and
influential: she was appointed Managing Director of the Aughinish Alumina plant
based on the Shannon Estuary a few miles from Askeaton in 1996, a post she filled
with distinction. Her appointment as a governor of the University of Limerick (from
December 1997 to September 1998) enriched the University with the entrepreneurial
talents of a world class industrialist. As President and Chief Executive of Alcan
Primary Metal Group based in Montreal, she was responsible for 54 wholly or
partially-owned operations in 21 countries across the world. She held this role from
2002 until 2007 when she joined Anglo American. The New York Times reported
‘head-scratching in London at this appointment. Ms Carroll commented, ‘They’ll
know me pretty soon… I’m a person of action and won’t sit still too long’. Within
a year of the appointment, the Times Online flagged its business page with ‘Cyclone
Cynthia Carroll shakes up Anglo - Cynthia Carroll has modernised the mining group,
fixed relations with South Africa and avoided merger mania’ and contrasted her
leadership with that of ‘time-serving South African males’.
In a keynote speech to the Business for Social Responsibility Annual Conference
in 2007, Cynthia Carroll laid out a clear agenda of social responsibility pointing
up Anglo American’s credentials as an ethical corporation. She speaks of the free
anti-retroviral treatment available to HIV positive employees and then moves on to
the theme of safety, the aim of ‘zero harm’; the need to maintain gender and racial
mix within the company is also touched on with the rights of women forming a
focal point of this strand in Ms Carroll’s reflections upon the responsibilities of
the company. Negotiation with local communities, care for the environment and
the need for strong regulatory frameworks and good governance make up another
strand. Paying tax in the company of operation, offering a social contract that justly
rewards host countries is yet another aspect of the way in which the corporation
underpins its mission with a care for the welfare of others. A warning that Cynthia
Carroll sounds here concerns those countries where poor governance can lead to
corruption. Anglo American insists upon transparency as enshrined in the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative - ‘resource companies declare what they pay to
the government and the government declares what it has received; providing an
opportunity to compare both sides of the ledger’.
Training projects in local communities, learning about the ‘dynamics between
different communities, ethnic groups and political factions’ in order to ensure
‘employment equity and the fair distribution of social investment’ are also targeted.
The key current issue of sustainable development linked to the topics of energy
security and climate change make up what Ms Carroll calls the big picture that
this speech tackles. One suggestion that she makes is that The 2015 Millennium
Development Goals of the United Nations should give rise to a joint initiative
between non-governmental actors especially business, and governments because ‘the
Millennium Development Goals will only be delivered if there is growth; and business
- from the individual entrepreneur through to international investors - is what will
put bread on the table’. These sentiments strike at the heart of a particular line of
management thinking which can be traced back to Henry Ford and his remark that ‘a
business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business’.
Towards the end of 2007, Ms Carroll made a speech in Anchorage, Alaska explaining
the Anglo American Pebble project. The keyword of her statement is Partnership,
which ‘involves working with and for the villages around our operations and the
broader communities in our areas of influence’. Five core principles guide the Pebble
project and partnership is the overarching concept that informs them:
Pebble must benefit people
Pebble must co-exist with healthy fish, wildlife and natural resources
Pebble must apply the world’s best and most advanced science
Pebble must help build sustainable communities
At Pebble we must listen before we act.
Early in 2008, Cynthia Carroll received grateful praise from Buyelwa Sonjica, the
Minerals and Energy Minister of South Africa, for her unwavering commitment
to reducing deaths in South African mines. In April 2008, Ms Carroll again visited
South Africa to deepen the safety initiatives of the company and met 5000 AngloAmerican workers, ‘I sang songs and I danced with the workers to celebrate the
successes’. At the same time, she notes, some had ‘tears in their eyes expressing the
extreme sadness and the pain when their fellow workers had died’; Ms Carroll stressed
the commitment of the company to creating ‘a culture of care, respect, trust and
responsibility’.
In this work, Ms Carroll’s enterprise lies at the cusp where corporate governance
meets with the needs of a civil society. As James Madison, one of the founders of the
American constitution puts it, ‘the safety and happiness of society are the objects
at which all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions must be
sacrificed’.
The powerful energies of Cynthia Carroll are shown in a range of enterprises:
currently she holds directorships in BP plc, De Beers Group and Anglo-Platinum
Ltd and is a former board member of Sara Lee Corporation: She was appointed as a
member of the British Council in 2008.
President, I present Cynthia Carroll to you and request you to confer the Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Economic Science upon her.
Seán Donlon
Citation for the conferring of Honorary Doctorate of Laws
The distinguished career of Seán Donlon spans many fields of endeavour. His work
for the Irish public service began at the Department of Finance in 1961. He spent
the next 24 years in the Department of Foreign Affairs: his early duties in the
Department of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy of Ireland in Bonn were followed
by a posting as Consul-General to Boston. He returned to the Headquarters of the
Department between 1971 and 1978 specialising in Anglo-Irish affairs especially
those related to Northern Ireland. His duties on the Northern Ireland desk at
a particularly complex time included valuable behind-the-scenes work on the
Sunningdale Agreement of 1974. In the next decade he became Ambassador to the
United States (and, concurrently, Mexico); Ronan Fanning commented favourably on
his work in helping to maintain the delicate connections between Britain, Ireland and
America at the time of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
Seán Donlon’s commitment to Northern Ireland affairs was widely praised after he
returned from America and he went on to lead the Department of Foreign Affairs
as Secretary-General and Head of the Irish Diplomatic Service. His work on the
two jurisdictions was continued and he played a major role in the construction and
implementation of the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985. Mr Donlon has always proved
ready to take on offices of State at critical junctures, particularly those that marked
Ireland’s relationships with the United States and with the United Kingdom.
John F. Kennedy remarked in 1960 that - ‘No government is better than the men
who compose it’ - Ireland is indeed fortunate to have had a man of the calibre of Seán
Donlon in a place of office at this important time. One instance of his conciliatory
approach to the ambassadorial role is the major role which he took in encouraging
The Friends of Ireland group. This group, founded by Tip O’Neill and which
included Daniel Moynihan, Edward Kennedy and Governor of New York, Hugh
Carey stressed moderation in Irish affairs among the Irish-American community. The
American Ireland Fund, still a major charitable organisation today, stemmed from
this initiative. His sensitive and intelligent handling of the issues involved in Ireland’s
world role was widely praised. His genial personality and friendly presence perhaps
contributed to this for, in the words of David Frost, - ‘the chief distinction of a
diplomat is that he can say “no” in such a way that it sounds like “yes.” ’
In 1987, Mr Donlon took on the task of Executive Vice-President of the GPA group,
then based in Shannon which involved a move to Co. Clare. In 1989 his diplomatic
skills were again shown when he managed to persuade Graham Greene to adjudicate
the GPA literary award, an award that Seán had taken particular pleasure in creating.
At the ceremony itself confusion arose about a distinction between John Banville
being awarded the prize along with another prize Greene wished to see awarded to
Vincent McDonnell. Both writers were awarded prizes and Seán Donlon relished the
extra publicity the affair generated. Seán has a great interest in writing and reading
(while also finding time for a regular ten to fourteen mile walk!) his literary interests
are currently deployed in an active Trusteeship of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
His experience in government office was called for once more in the years 1995 to
1997 when Mr John Bruton TD, the then Taoiseach, appointed him Chief of Staff
and Special Adviser. He also acted as Special Adviser between 2001 and 2002 to Mr
Michael Noonan TD, who was then the leader of Fine Gael.
Seán Donlon’s remarkably broad working life has given him a unique insight into the
entrepreneurial and political culture of the Irish diasporic communities in Europe
and America. In the Sunday Business Post, January 2002, Emily O’Reilly referred to
Mr Donlon as, ‘one of the most astute, able and highly political diplomats to have
emerged from Foreign Affairs in the last three decades’. In December 2008, the
National University of Ireland awarded Seán Donlon an Honorary Doctorate in Laws.
Since 1997 Mr Donlon has acted as a non-executive Director of Hibernian Group
plc, Norwich Union International Ltd, Ark Life Insurance Company, Babcock
and Brown Air Ltd, Enba plc and Eureto plc. He was also a Board Member to the
Special Olympics World Games held in Ireland in 2003 and currently chairs the
Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation while remaining in an executive position at
General Electric Capital Aviation Services Ltd. The annual meeting of the Merriman
Summer School is also among his interests.
Mr Donlon’s comprehensive record of service in the public sector and in the corporate
community makes him eminently qualified for the award that he is to receive
here today. And there is further cause for the University of Limerick to join these
communities in honouring Mr Donlon’s career for he has given exemplary service to
this institution.
In 2002, Mr Donlon was elected Chair of the Governing Authority and Chancellor of
the University of Limerick, posts that he held until November 2007. Welcoming this
appointment, the then UL President Roger Downer said, ‘Mr Donlon is a figure of
the highest integrity and accomplishment who will lead the new governing authority
in guiding UL through its next, critical phase of growth. The University is fortunate
to have a figure of such standing as the Chairperson’. He has also been on the Board
of the University Foundation since 2002.
The University of Limerick highly values Seán Donlon’s distinguished record
of achievement and his association with this campus. Today we celebrate the
considerable service he has given to the Irish State and to the university community.
President, I present Seán Donlon to you and request you to confer The Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Laws upon him.
University of Limerick Coat of Arms - Eagna Chun Gnímh
Denis M Leonard
Citation for Conferring of Honorary Doctorate of Letters
Limerick Civic Trust has enriched Limerick City and visitors to Limerick for more
than 25 years. Mr Denis Leonard is largely responsible for the tremendous success of
this organisation. In 1985 the Trust appointed Denis, a founder member and the first
chairman, to be the full time Director of the Trust.
Denis Leonard’s special contribution to the work of the Limerick Civic Trust was
to shift the emphasis of the organisation from pressure group activities devoted to
raising consciousness of the local architectural environment and heritage to the direct
undertaking of conservation projects. In this important regenerative work, Denis
helped in the eliciting of donations, sponsorship and membership contributions from
the private sector which could then be matched with EU and Government funding.
Accountants, architects, lawyers and experts in planning restoration and conservation
generously contributed their services. To date, Limerick Civic Trust has undertaken
136 projects; at present day values this work has been estimated to cost €40 million.
The built heritage of Limerick City has been considerably enhanced by the work of
the Trust. Cultural and charitable organisations including Daghdha Dance Company
and the Island Theatre Company use restored buildings; restored artefacts have
been redeployed in other locations when their place of origin has been demolished.
Denis and the Trust have also taken a keen interest in the education and experience
of trainees who work on these projects. Denis has insisted that every trainee must
have, or acquire, basic literacy and he has provided direction and assistance to enable
them to do so. Over the years it has given hundreds of people in the St Mary’s area an
opportunity to work in their own neighbourhoods. Priority is given to those selected
by FÁS and these often include people who need a second chance in life and who are
seeking a meaningful civic identity. Work for the Trust has had a major influence in
helping people regain a sense of worth.
The King’s Island area has been a focal point for the work of the Trust. In the St
Mary’s Cathedral area, the new Civic Offices and the renovation of the Courthouse
and the Potato Market have all been initiated, or followed on from, the activities
of the Civic Trust. Work around King John’s Castle included the restoration and
mounting of the two splendid cannon dating from the 1690s, and the restoration of
the Bishop’s Palace - which is now used as a base for the Civic Trust. John’s Square,
the centre of Irishtown, was another centre for restoration and this included work on
the interior of St John’s Church as well as parts of the old City Walls.
The centre-piece of Limerick Civic Trust’s restoration work is a venue now known
to many citizens - 2 Pery Square Tontines, Georgian House. The house, built in
1838, was divided into flats when the Trust took it on. There was severe damage to
the architectural detail with dry and wet rot throughout the building. During the
restoration, a Sienna marbleised finish was discovered on the landing and hallways
as well as a mezzanine floor of three rooms in the basement overlooking the kitchen.
With grant aid from The European Operational Programme for Local, Urban and
Rural Development of €190,500, the Trust recruited 17 unemployed people and,
supervised by experts, they restored the house including the plasterwork, woodwork
and marbling. The total cost was €1.5 million and the house has become a sparkling
reminder of the history of Limerick as well as a much-loved visitor attraction in the
city. It operates as a community centre, as a museum for the Parker-Carroll collection
of military memorabilia and as a venue for cultural events.
Denis Leonard has been the energetic force behind this remarkable redevelopment
which has demonstrated the solid strengths of Limerick art, craft and design over the
centuries; he has revealed the beauty and grace of a city which has sometimes suffered
from an unjust profile in the media.
Current development in Limerick includes the Opera Centre and the Trust has
secured the retention of the home of Catharine Hayes, (the opera singer after
whom the centre is named) at 4 Patrick Street; the Trust plans to use the house as
a cultural centre.
Denis Leonard and the enterprise of the Trust have continued to thrive in an often
difficult environment. The histories of churches and cemeteries, for example, call
upon sensitivity to personal and religious convictions among pastors and people of
their parishes; negotiations with planners, architects and developers call for major
reserves of tolerance and tact. Fund-raising has been a constant occupation for the
Trust. Denis has successfully worked with the members of the Trust over 25 years and
this too testifies to his ability as a team member. He left his early job in banking to
join the Trust and it is Limerick’s privilege to have had him work on behalf of the city
and its people for many years. Denis has reminded us that the future, too, is inscribed
in the past, that,
There is a history in all men’s lives,
Figuring the nature of the times deceased,
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds
And weak beginnings lie intreasurèd
(Henry IV, Part 2).
Denis’s work has previously been recognised by the Knights of the Round Table who
appointed him an honorary member and their ambassador in Limerick; an annual
bursary is presented to a student from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance
through this body and Denis has the task of promoting the award. Several awards
have been given to Trust projects: The Bishop’s Palace won the National Award for the
Best Old Building at the All Ireland City Neighbourhood Awards 2005; The Royal
Institute of Architects gave an award in 2000 to The Georgian House and Garden
Restoration Project; in 1995 the European Architecture Heritage Award was given to
the preservation of the Crescent project.
Today the University of Limerick honours the dedicated contribution of Denis
Leonard to the history, fabric and future of the Limerick region.
President, I present Denis Leonard to you and request you to confer the Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Letters upon him.
Daniel Tierney
Citation for Conferring of Honorary Doctorate of Economic Science
The Tierney Report of 1995 paved the way for much of the technology transfer and
education/industry linkages that now inform the fabric of our Higher Education
sector. In this important report, also known as STIAC, the Science Technology
and Innovation Advisory Council Report, key problems were addressed: lowlevel commitment to research and development, insufficient innovation and
entrepreneurship; a lack of integration of multinational enterprises into the economy
and problems arising from the small size, scale and low technology bases of Irish
firms. For Dan Tierney these issues are of passionate concern. He argues in the
introduction to the Report that ‘we all have a vision of an Ireland where each of us
enjoys a rising standard of living’ - he goes on to mention healthcare, education,
value-added jobs - and claims that if business is ‘driven by invention, imagination and
creativity...we can compete on the world stage. It is not a pipe-dream…It depends on
our ability to stimulate growth through knowledge generation, innovation and the
application of technology’.
This interest in research and development was shown earlier in Mr Tierney’s career
when he became one of the founder-directors of the non-profit Industry Research
and Development Group in 1992, an organisation dedicated to improving the
product and process research, development and innovation of Irish businesses. In
his busy career, Dan Tierney has constantly returned to the issue of how to bridge
research and business practice. He recognises the cogency of Bronowski’s axiom that,
‘the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation…the hand is the
cutting edge of the mind’.
Mr Tierney’s contribution to the public service in Ireland over many years has
echoed this theme. In his two term chairmanship (1997-2007) of the National
Standards Authority of Ireland, for example, he worked towards the nation-wide
implementation of the ISO 9000 Quality System. In 1998, the then Minister
for Science and Technology, Mr Noel Treacy, TD, commended the outstanding
chairmanship of Mr. Dan Tierney in leading this organisation in its work of
implementing technical and management standards in Irish industry. This work,
commented Mr Tierney, is about ‘raising the standards of quality in the public sector
…as family members, as members of the national workforce, as customers, as business
people, as citizens. …The achievement and continuous improvement of high quality
standards by public service bodies impacts directly and indirectly upon all our lives’.
Of the other public service posts which Mr Tierney held in the 1990s, one deserves
particular mention: this is the chairmanship of the Special Task Force set up in
1996-97 by the Government following the closure of the Packard Electric Plant in
Tallaght with the loss of 700 jobs. The Task Force was extremely successful and the
majority of the workforce found new employment; the factory was re-opened under
new management. Mr Tierney also represented Ireland on the board of the Industry
Research and Development Advisory Council in Brussels between 1992 and 1995
and was a member of the European Science and Technology Assembly between 1993
and 1996.
In the early days of the United States, Thomas Jefferson commented that ‘No duty
the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right
place’. The Irish Government was astute and fortunate in recognising the creative and
energetic skills and talents that Mr Tierney was able to bring to the important work
of steering Irish Industry toward the technologies that now inform the 21st century
manufacturing and services sectors. The University of Limerick Foundation is also
grateful for his long-standing service to this university; from the outset of the history
of this university, our aim has been to join the Higher Education world of study and
research with business and manufacture, to help make Ireland a creative, vibrant and
prosperous nation.
Mr Tierney’s important work for the country has been conducted alongside a busy
and successful commercial career. He is currently Chairman of Bimeda Holdings
plc (formerly Cross Vetpharm Holdings plc). He was also a founding director of
the Arrow Oil Company (later JET), a Director with the Irish National Petroleum
Corporation, and of Enterprise Ireland and a board member of Eirgrid plc.
Dan Tierney continues to innovate and experiment in his business ventures while
demonstrating a commitment to the needs of the country and to the current
discussions of energy efficiency in the global context: two recent projects are in the
renewable energy area: Lightwave Technologies Ltd supplies energy saving software
technology and specialises in the intelligent control of energy; Green Biofuels
Ireland Ltd produces biodiesel. This company has the laudable ambition of reducing
dependency on imported fuel, enabling Ireland to respect the Kyoto protocol and to
help in reducing the EU diesel deficit. These interests in the efficient use of energy
were shown earlier when the NSAI under Dan Tierney’s chairmanship sponsored the
programme ‘About the House’ with Duncan Stewart to publicise improved standards of
house building, especially those concerned with energy.
In 1991, the city of Limerick celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of
Limerick. The Cross Chemical Group and ICC Bank under the leadership of Dan
Tierney and Frank Casey commissioned Seoirse Bodley to compose The Limerick
Symphony, also known as the 5th Symphony of Seoirse Bodley. This symphony
recorded by the RTE Concert Orchestra remains an enduring cultural legacy of the
Treaty Anniversary; it also provides a reminder of Dan’s deep affection for his native
city; his early years at Crescent College left him with a deep love of rugby and he is
a keen supporter of Munster (currently the European champions). That leaves little
time for his several other interests: the opera, golf, squash and sailing; this last pastime
suggests a key to the powerful and inspired energies that have guided Dan Tierney’s
wide-ranging career path and dedicated service to the needs of this country. As the
poet Louis McNeice puts it ‘By a high star our course is set,
Our end is Life. Put out to sea.’
President I present Daniel Tierney to you and ask you to confer the Honorary Degree
of Doctor of Economic Science upon him.
Presenting
the University of Limerick
Since its foundation in 1972, the University of Limerick has upheld the principles of
free enquiry and expression, actively encouraged innovation in its teaching, research
and scholarship, and sought to promote learning and knowledge relevant to the
nation’s social and economic needs.
The Living Bridge
The natural beauty of the Plassey campus, its fine parklands gently embracing both
banks of the Shannon, has helped to generate a civilised and generous context for
our educational enterprise. Through this rich physical, intellectual and innovative
environment, the University has continued to attract an international team of
talented teachers and researchers. The flourishing of the University of Limerick as an
educational institution of true excellence and well-proven relevance have led to its
positioning as a centre for significant development in the region. The National
Technology Park, home to many research, development and manufacturing partners,
and the recent resurgence of Limerick as a leading Irish city have both benefited from
the growth of the University.
The University opened its doors to over 11,000 students this year, including students
from the United States, Europe and Asia as well as an increased number of part-time
students, who combine study with work. We take pride in the breadth of our student
population, for the University of Limerick has been from the outset a university
that takes the dynamically changing world beyond the campus as the essential guide
for its future direction. One example of this policy is the Cooperative Education
programme at the University, one of the largest such programmes in the EU; this
programme places some 2,000 students in paid work experience positions
in industry, commerce and the professions each year.
The University is managed through six Deans, two of whom are responsible for
teaching and learning, and graduate studies. The others are the senior officers in the
four Faculties of the University: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Business;
Education and Health Sciences; and Science and Engineering. The University has
greatly increased its research activity and output in all fields, especially in key
strategic areas such as: Biosciences, Environment and Bioengineering; Information
and Communication Technologies; Materials and Surface Sciences; Work, Quality
and Productivity; and the Humanities and Social Sciences, specifically the Study of
Knowledge in Society.
The University campus incorporates state-of-the-art recreational, sporting and
coaching facilities, including the UL Sports Arena, which is home to the national
50-metre Olympic-standard swimming pool as well as an indoor jogging track.
Development of a 100-acre extension of the campus on the north side of the River
Shannon is well under way. Already two student villages and the Health Sciences
Building have been completed, along with the recently opened Living Bridge, which
is rapidly becoming a principal attraction for visitors from near and far.
Tá an-fhorbairt déanta ag an Ollscoil le gairid maidir leis an nGaeilge agus leis an
gcultúr Gaelach. Cuireann Ionad na Gaeilge ranganna Gaeilge agus ócáidí sóisialta
ar siúl chun gnáthúsáid na teanga a chothú agus le deis a thabhairt do gach duine
san Ollscoil a gcuid Gaeilge a fheasbhsú. Ón taobh acadúil de, tá an Ollscoil ag
iarraidh cur lena cuid cúrsaí i nGaeilge agus chuige sin cuireadh tús le cúrsaí nua
Gaeilge a bhaineann leis an tsochtheangeolaíocht agus leis an teicneolaíocht.
The arts have been a central point of reference for the University. Four major art
collections, together with sculpture pieces throughout the campus, stimulate the
working environment of the University and encourage contemplation and
appreciation. The Bourn Vincent Gallery, situated in the Foundation Building,
is dedicated to contemporary exhibitions. The University Concert Hall, where
conferring ceremonies take place, has also been the scene of a great variety of events.
The University is home to the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, the
Irish Chamber Orchestra and Daghdha Dance Company. Regular performances by
these groups and their guests are a feature of University life.
Above all, it is the quality of our graduates and of the education which we have
provided that remain our central concern. The students graduating today are the
true ambassadors of the University and their endeavours beyond the University
campus will be the most enduring testimony to our achievement. We trust that they
have enjoyed their time at the University of Limerick, that their education has
met or surpassed their expectations and that their path in life is informed by the
vision of this University.
University of Limerick Mace
Plassey House, University of Limerick
Design by copperreed.com
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK
Honorary
DOCTORAL
CONFERRING CEREMONY
JANUARY 21 2009
Ollscoil Luimnigh, Luimneach, Éire
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Telephone: +353 61 202700
Fax: +353 61 330316
www.ul.ie