CRH, and husband and wife Siobhán Fay and Edward McGivney, were announced as the winners of the DCU Corporate Leadership and Individual Leadership Awards for 2022-23 respectively at DCU Educational Trust’s annual Leadership Circle Dinner on 1 February. Professor Anne Looney, Executive Dean of DCU Institute of Education, was also presented with the DCU Staff Leadership Award at the event, which took place in The Helix on DCU’s Glasnevin Campus.
The annual DCU Educational Trust Leadership Circle Dinner brings together DCU’s leading friends and supporters to celebrate their collective contribution to DCU’s mission to transform lives and societies. Over 200 attendees gathered in The Helix as the event MC, broadcaster and entrepreneur Áine Kerr, narrated a programme that showcased how philanthropy is enabling DCU to address societal issues ranging from climate change and STEM education, to widening the participation of underrepresented groups in higher education.
Speaking at the event, Eamonn Quinn, Chair of DCU Educational Trust told DCU’s supporters:
“Two main things unite us all here this evening. Firstly, a passion for DCU’s mission to transform lives and societies, and secondly, a belief that through our philanthropy and support for DCU’s mission, we can make a real difference to people’s lives and the world that we live in. DCU’s supporters are making that difference every day, through generous gifts that enable research, the construction of new facilities on campus, and progression to postgraduate study.”
Professor Daire Keogh, President of DCU, also addressed DCU’s donors at the dinner, stating:
“Our industry and philanthropic partners play a critical role in helping DCU to advance its ambitions, both for our students, research, and for the impact we seek to deliver in the wider world. These collaborations are more important than ever, as we seek to develop our student offerings, intensify our research output, and deliver major capital projects such as the new DCU Polaris building.
The Leadership Circle Dinner is a celebration of our supporters and of philanthropy, and an opportunity to take stock of the positive impact that our partnerships have on the DCU determination to ‘transform lives and societies’.”
The Corporate Leadership Award was presented to leading building materials business CRH, in recognition of their longstanding support for DCU over the last 35 years. The company has been a leading supporter of DCU’s Access Programme since 2007, enabling hundreds of DCU students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue their dream of higher education. In 2014, CRH extended this support to a postgraduate scholarship programme, which has since enabled 100 students to progress their studies to Master’s level.
Accepting the award on behalf of CRH, Chief Human Resources Officer Gina Jardine told the audience that:
“At CRH, we value education in all its forms – recognising the importance of skilled people and the impact they make to business and community success. It has been our pleasure to play a role in supporting ambitious students to achieve their education goals and we have been hugely impressed by those that have also joined us for work experience, as interns in our organisation. We are humbled as an organisation to receive the Corporate Leadership Award and have been proud to partner with DCU’s Access Programme over many years.”
The Individual Leadership Award was presented to husband and wife Siobhán Fay and Edward McGivney in recognition of the DCU alumni’s support for DCU’s Access Programme spanning almost two decades. MC, and DCU alumna, Áine Kerr noted that the couple encapsulate the commitment of many DCU alumni to give back in order to enable future generations of DCU students to enjoy the same quality education which they benefited from during their time here. Speaking as he accepted the award, Edward McGivney stated:
The Staff Leadership Award for 2022-23 was presented to Professor Anne Looney, Executive Dean of DCU Institute of Education in recognition of her leadership in working with the university’s philanthropic partners to drive innovation and research that has helped to establish the Institute as Ireland’s leading centre for educational research and educational studies. Speaking as she accepted her award, Prof Looney said:
“The support of our philanthropic partners has been key to the growth and development of the DCU Institute of Education since its establishment just over six years ago. From supporting the first ever cohort of Irish Sign Language users on their journey to become primary teachers, to helping to attract global scholars to funded chairs in STEM Education, Early Childhood Education and Assessment, to finding cutting edge research into bullying, to supporting children in disadvantaged schools in becoming enthusiastic readers and writers, and delivering world-class programmes in autism education – the support of our donors has helped the Institute to emerge as a global leader across the education sector in six short years.”
The presence of DCU students was also strongly felt on the evening, with beautiful music by the DCU Chamber Choir, and an inspiring testimonial from Victoria Babela, a second year Biotechnology student who described the importance of the scholarship support she has received in enabling her to pursue her educational ambitions without limitations.
