Past students, staff and friends of DCU were recently remembered at the annual Memorial Scholarships event held in The Helix at DCU. Thirteen students were presented with memorial scholarship awards named in honour of 12 individuals who have played a key role in the life of the University and in Irish society. Amongst those honoured through memorial scholarships at the event were former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, leading businessman and philanthropist Dr Tim Mahony of Toyota Ireland and mountaineer Ger McDonnell who became the first Irish person to scale K2 in 2008.
The 13 scholarship recipients were selected based on their talent and dedication but also according to specific criteria set by scholarship donors. Nine scholarships were presented to undergraduate students supported by DCU’s Access Programme, which makes third level education accessible to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and provides financial, academic and personal supports to help students succeed in their studies. A further two scholarships were awarded to support students engaged in postgraduate research or study in fields as diverse as Biotechnology and Law and Government.
One scholarship supports a student who is strong in the sporting arena, and this year’s award went to Irish swimmer, Brendan Hyland. When Brendan completes his studies this year, he is going to turn his full focus to his training in hope of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
This year saw the introduction of a new scholarship created by Lorraine Twohill, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Google, in memory of her mother, Teresa Twohill, a woman who was extremely passionate about the promotion of education in Ireland. Teresa, a scholarship recipient herself, was a primary school teacher who was also responsible for establishing a number of Naonraí across Leinster.
Speaking at the event, Leah Riordan, a first year Law and Politics student from Ballymun explained what it meant to her to receive the Teresa Twohill Memorial Scholarship,
“The financial support from my scholarship has been a huge help. Without it I would not have been able to afford some of my course essentials. The team in the Access department have also been amazing and really helped me settle into college.”
The Orla Benson Memorial Scholarship
Catherine Allen
The Frank Durkan Memorial Scholarship
Niall Duffy
The Charles J Haughey Memorial Scholarships
Sarah Healy
The Aidan McDonnell Memorial Scholarship
Jack Pilcher
The Ger McDonnell Memorial Scholarship
Eromonsele Penial Clements
The Volkswagen Group Ireland – Stephen Moran Memorial Access Scholarship
Ryan Casey
The Paddy Moriarty Memorial Scholarship
Sarah McDonald
The TJ O’Driscoll Memorial Scholarship
James Regan
The Tim Mahony Memorial Scholarship
Aidan Gray
The Nicola Radford Memorial Scholarship
Chloe Rooney
The Paddy J Wright Memorial Scholarship
Oisín Mulhall Wallace
Brendan Hyland
The Teresa Twohill Memorial Scholarship
Leah Riordan
