1992

Deirdre Barry (BA Single Honours, Major French/Minor Italian,1992)

'Having fallen in love with Italy after a brief trip in '88, I discovered that my destiny wanted me in Italy and so decided to study Italian. After my graduation I came to Italy to teach English for a year and then returned to Ireland where I started my career in the tourism industry. In 1997 I returned to Italy to work as Sales Manager for a Golf Resort, Palazzo Arzaga, (http://www.palazzoarzaga.com) on Lake Garda, Brescia. Two years ago I started my present job as Travel Section Manager for web portal (http://www.bresciaonline.it) of a leading local media group. In September I was promoted to Head of the editorial department and I also appear on a weekly television programme representing our website. It may seem like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but part of my present life I owe to my studies in UCC and I am proud to be part of a nation whose graduates have travelled far and wide to make a life of their own whilst holding on to their origins.' (December 2001)

An interview with Deirdre on the website http://www.irlandia.it

Anita Cronin (BA Joint Honours, Italian and Economics, 1992)

'After graduating from UCC, I gained employment as a property negotiator for a German Estate Agent (based in West Cork!). Primarily, my duties were to set up a link with the property market in Italy and also to negotiate sales of Irish properties to Irish clients. I stayed with the company for two years. Over the two years I realised my strengths lay in administration so I decided to do a graduate teaching diploma in Information Technology and Office Skills. I worked for a short time in the Southern Health Board and eventually ended up back in UCC, where I am to this day. After four years in the Faculty of Arts Office, I recently took up a post in the Graduate Studies Office as a Senior Executive Assistant. This is a relatively new office that will develop over time as a 'one-stop information facility' for the promotion of graduate education at UCC.

Michael P. Morris (BA, Italian and French, 1992)

'I am a member of An Garda Síochána and a graduate from University College Cork. In 1992 I received a BA in French and Italian. Following a year doing the HDip. in Education, I joined the Gardaí.

'I spent six months initially in Dublin where my Italian was in constant use, not just for giving directions or advice as regards the best restaurants or bars in Dublin, but also for taking statements from and caring for Italian victims of crime. In recent years the number of Italian visitors to Ireland has increased dramatically, which has a knock-on effect of a dramatic increase in the number of Italian victims of crime, particularly in the Dublin area. Furthermore, I was involved in the interviewing of Italian perpertrators of crime.

'I joined An Garda Síochána not as a last resort, but as a first preference. It is a career that I thoroughly enjoy and I am happy to say that I am still using what I learned for my degree, both in French and Italian'. (December 1997)

Orfhlaith Ní Chorcora (BA Joint Honours, Italian and French, 1992)

'After graduating from UCC, I did postgraduate studies in Education at the Università degli Studi in Florence. I taught English in Empoli (FI) the following year and worked as a freelance interpreter and translator before returning to Ireland. Since then, I have been working in the IT industry. I went back to college in 1998 to get a Diploma in Marketing, Advertising and PR.

'Now I work as EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Manager for Education Initiatives for Oracle - I have been working for Oracle for the past 3 years and enjoy the very challenging and fast-paced environment of the IT industry. I work for a Global team in Oracle where we partner with schools and third level academic institutions to use technology to improve learning and in the case of third level to integrate information technology courseware into mainstream education to help facilitate students' ability to move quickly and productively into today's workforce. The education programmes I run range from donation of network computers to schools (Oracle's Promise) to providing the very latest technology to third level academic institutions (Oracle Academic Initiative). UCC is a member of the Oracle Academic Intiative also. The programme in EMEA presently involves approx 600 academic institutions across 30 countries and involves approximately 50,000 students, so I'm kept busy all the time! In the last year, I have travelled extensively in Europe and in the US - the job is always interesting and challenging and I get to clock up lots of air miles!

'In October 1999, I relocated to Rome and now work from Oracle's Rome office. Ever since I did Erasmus in Milan, many years ago, I have always loved the Italian culture and language, and I have now chosen to live in Italy permanently. I use both Italian and English every day and definitely think that one of the best decisions I ever made was to learn Italian!' (November 2000)

Marguerita O'Neill (BA Joint Honours, Italian and German, 1992)

'In the summer of 1992 I left UCC with my degree in my back pocket. With wonderful memories of an ERASMUS year abroad (1990-1991), I returned to the continent to do an MA in European Studies at the University of Leuven in Belgium. By the end of the MA I realized , however, that European Studies was not the area most suited to me and so I decided instead to experiment with teaching. I was offered a position lecturing German and English for a year at a teacher training college in Hungary. The year became two, as I was very happy there. I then went on to do postgraduate studies in German literature at UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) where I was also employed as a teaching assistant. Soon after completing my MA, I returned to Ireland and have been lecturing German at the Institute of Technology Tralee. I find teaching very enjoyable (most of the time!) and the extra-curricular activities that go with it very fulfilling. No doubt I'll be in the "Kingdom" for many years yet!' (January 2000)

Department of Italian Iodáilis