DCU Hosts Annual Memorial Scholarships Ceremony

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 2018/19 Memorial Scholarship Recipients Include: 

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