01 Dec 2006

Alumni Achievement Awards 2006

Outstanding achievers in the fields of business, international diplomacy, oral health and public service are to be honoured by UCC at the 2006 Alumni Achievement Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Henry Ford & Son, Limited, which takes place this evening (Friday, 1 December 2006) at UCC.

The four UCC graduates who are being honoured are:-

DAN MULHALL – Director General of EU Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Former Ambassador to Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam during the 2004 Tsunami disaster.

MICHAEL CAWLEY - Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair.

DR PETER COONEY - Chief Dental Officer of Canada and leading international expert in oral health.

CLLR DEIRDRE CLUNE - Former Lord Mayor of Cork during Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture.

The annual UCC Alumni Achievement Awards Programme honours graduates who have obtained extraordinary distinction and success in their chosen fields. The Awards aim to foster a spirit of loyalty, involvement and commitment to UCC amongst alumni.  Professor Gerard Wrixon, President, UCC said “It gives me great pleasure to present an Alumnus Achievement Award to these graduates whose outstanding accomplishments have brought great honour to their alma mater.”

UCC is a vibrant, dynamic university, internationally recognised for its teaching programme and the quality of the student experience and consistently the premier research university in Ireland. UCC has almost 16,000 students (2,000 from 75 countries) and over 3,000 members of staff. UCC brings a global dimension to Cork and plays a driving role in the cultural, economic and social developments not only in the South West region but across Ireland.  UCC was selected as Irish University of the Year twice in recent years.
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DISTINGUISHED INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT TO BE HONOURED WITH UCC ALUMNUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

International diplomat, Dan Mulhall is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2006 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, 1 December 2006) at UCC. 

Mr Mulhall is being honoured by the College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences for his distinguished career as an international diplomat. 

Dan Mulhall graduated with an honours BA degree in 1975, a Higher Diploma in Education in 1978 and an MA in Modern History in 1979.

Dan has pursued his career as a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs since 1978 and has served in various postings in New Delhi, Vienna and Brussels.  He served as Press Officer for four years to Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.  Dan was appointed as the first Irish Consul General to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1998 and in 2001 he was posted to Kuala Lumpur where he served as Ambassador to Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. 

It was in the last term of this posting to South-East Asia that Dan faced his greatest challenge when on the 26 December 2004 the Tsunami disaster struck in the Indian Ocean resulting in almost 300,000 deaths and displacing over two million people in the surrounding region.  Dan acquitted himself outstandingly in the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami, leading the Irish Government’s emergency response efforts on the ground.  Dan established an Irish desk in Phuket’s City Hall where he was joined by volunteers to help trace Irish citizens living and holidaying in the area and bravely confronted the daunting task of identifying the dead.  At this crucial time, Dan was the key spokesperson to the Irish media, providing up-to-date news and information, as the tragedy unfolded, to the Irish public back home.

Dan is currently Director General of the European Union Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.

A keen historian and writer, Dan is the author of A New Day Dawning: a portrait of Ireland in 1900 (Cork 1999) and has published many articles on history, literature and other subjects in Ireland, Australia, Scotland and Malaysia. 

Dan has truly been an outstanding ambassador for his alma mater over the years.  A key part of Dan’s ambassadorial role, in Malaysia in particular, was to promote the excellence of third-level education in Ireland to students who may be thinking of studying abroad.  He was involved in the arrangements for the visit to Ireland of the King of Malaysia in 2003 when the King was conferred with an honorary degree at UCC. There are now some 1,200 Malaysian students studying in Ireland today.  Dan has also been tremendously supportive of the UCC Graduates’ Association and has actively supported UCC’s worldwide alumni network in Scotland, south-east-Asia and, more recently, in Dublin.

On learning of his Award, Dan said “I have very fond memories of student life in Cork and have always held UCC in the highest regard.  I am, therefore, delighted to have been selected for this prestigious award.  I sincerely thank UCC for this recognition of my work in the Department of Foreign Affairs, where I have had the privilege of serving Ireland on a number of overseas assignments with great colleagues, many of whom are fellow UCC graduates.” 
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RYANAIR EXECUTIVE TO BE HONOURED WITH UCC ALUMNUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Michael Cawley, Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2006 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, 1 December 2006) at UCC.

Michael Cawley is being honoured by the College of Business and Law in recognition of his outstanding business acumen.  Michael graduated from UCC in 1975 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.  He qualified as a Chartered Accountant having worked with Coopers and Lybrand for three years.  He returned to his alma mater as a Lecturer in Accounting and Auditing in the Faculty of Commerce and later worked with Frank Boland Group as a Financial Accountant.

Michael has worked in a number of different industries including distribution and manufacturing.  In 1981, Michael was appointed Finance and Distribution Manager with Kodak Ireland and subsequently became Marketing Manager.  He joined Athlone Extrusions as Managing Director in 1986 where he led the largest management buy-out at the time in Ireland.   In 1993, Michael was appointed Finance Director of Gowan Group, one of Ireland’s largest private businesses and the main distributor for Peugeot and Citroen cars in Ireland.

Michael was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director of Ryanair in 1997.  He was centrally involved in the flotation of the company on the Dublin and Nasdaq Stock Exchanges later that year and on the London Stock Exchange in June 1998.

Michael was promoted to Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer in January 2004. Together with Chief Executive, Michael O’Leary he embraced the challenge of transforming Ryanair from a small low cost carrier, carrying three million passengers on nine aircraft in 1997, into Europe’s largest low cost airline out-competing its rivals and carrying 42.5 million passengers on 103 aircraft in 2006. 

Michael is responsible for all commercial activities of the airline including new route negotiation and selection, ancillary revenue, setting of fares, advertising, Ryanair.com and sales and marketing. 

Michael credits much of his success in business to the broad education and training he received at UCC. “I’m particularly pleased to be honoured by UCC, as I regard my time there as one of the most formative of my business career.  The Commerce Faculty, in particular the Accounting and Economics Departments, provided us with material to address all of the big questions in life and in business and I still draw on my education and experience there in many aspects of my work.”  
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INTERNATIONAL EXPERT IN ORAL HEALTH TO BE HONOURED WITH UCC ALUMNUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Dr Peter Cooney, Chief Dental Officer of Canada is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2006 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, 1 December 2006) at UCC. 

Dr Cooney is being honoured by the College of Medicine & Health as an international leader in oral health.

After graduating from UCC in 1977 with an honours degree in dentistry, Peter headed for London where he worked in a busy general dental practice before emigrating to Canada in 1979.

He established his own private dental practice in Newfoundland and completed a Dental Diploma in Public Health in 1983, coming first in his class.  He moved into public health dentistry with the Government of Manitoba and was subsequently appointed Executive Director of Manitoba Dental Health in 1985. 

Peter joined Health Canada in 1991 as Regional Dental Officer with the aboriginal First Nations people and Inuit Communities in Manitoba Region and worked to improve the oral and dental health of these ethnic groups.  Canada has one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world and Health Canada strives to provide the best healthcare to the Canadian population.

In 1997 Peter moved with his wife and three children to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, and from 1999 to 2003 he was Director General of the Non-Insured Health Benefits Division of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch with responsibility for managing $800m worth of health services.  

Peter currently leads the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) whose function is to improve the oral health status of Canada’s 32 million plus citizens. Research has shown that poor oral health may contribute to other health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes.  Under Peter’s direction, the Office aims to increase the awareness among Canadians of the importance of maintaining good oral health.  Peter is also responsible for identifying research priorities including a national oral needs assessment to assist in formulating public policies using an evidence based, epidemiological approach.  He is also responsible for developing an integrated collaborative approach with key stakeholders to preventing and controlling oral and associated diseases.

Peter is cross-appointed Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto.  He is currently the Chief Examiner for the specialty of Dental Public Health with the Royal College of Dentists of Canada.  He sits on numerous committees and boards.  In 2006, Peter was appointed Chair of the International Chief Dental Officers Public Health Section of the FDI – World Dental Federation.  He is a former President of the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry. Peter holds a Specialty, Masters and Fellowship in Community Dentistry.
 
Peter has published extensively and has edited and co-edited numerous articles for national and international dental journals.

He has received many honours and accolades for his work including the Pierre Fouchard Academy Fellowship in 1999 and the Gold Medal Award from the Professional Institute of Public Service of Canada in 1998 for the improvement and enhancement of public well-being.

On learning of his Award, Peter said “I very much appreciate being selected as the recipient of the 2006 UCC Alumnus Achievement Award from the College of Medicine and Health. As I am the first dental graduate to receive this award, it must also be shared by all in the dental college as my dental education in Cork gave me the strong educational base I needed to address the many issues I encounter as Chief Dental Officer of Canada.”
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FORMER LORD MAYOR OF CORK TO BE HONOURED WITH UCC ALUMNUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Cllr Deirdre Clune, former Lord Mayor of Cork is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2006 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, 1 December 2006) at UCC.

Cllr Clune is being honoured by the College of Science, Engineering & Food Science for her excellent public service.  Deirdre graduated from UCC in 1980 with an honours degree in civil engineering.  After graduation, Deirdre worked on civil and structural engineering projects in Dublin and London before returning to Cork to work with Ove Arup and Partners.  She completed a Higher Diploma in Environmental Engineering in UCC in 1995. 

Deirdre comes from a Cork family with a long tradition of public service and inevitably developed an interest in politics from an early age.  She was prompted to enter the political arena following the retirement of her father, Peter Barry, from national politics in the mid 1990’s.  Deirdre was duly elected to the Dáil in 1997 as a Fine Gael TD and became spokesperson for the party on Art and Heritage and was a member of the Oireachtas Committee for Health and Children.  

Deirdre has been a member of Cork City Council since 1999 and has played an active role in local government, culminating in her election as Lord Mayor of Cork in 2005 when the city was European Capital of Culture.  She served as First Citizen of Cork with tremendous style, enthusiasm and energy, hosting civic receptions for visiting Ambassadors, national and international dignitaries, and attended a hectic schedule of events, street celebrations, awards ceremonies, school visits and company openings.  She helped make Cork 2005 one of the most important achievements in recent times.  Deirdre is a member of the Docklands Development Committee, the Roads and Transportation Committee and the Planning Committee of Cork City Council.  Through her work as a councillor she has been involved in drafting a joint waste management strategy with Cork City Council, and has contributed to the development of the Cork Area Strategic Plan.

Deirdre has been very supportive of UCC, particularly during her term as Lord Mayor where she served on UCC’s Governing Body and attended many university events.

Deirdre was made an honorary fellow by the Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2002 in recognition of her contribution to the national agenda as the only engineer in the Dail from 1997-2002.

On learning of her Award from UCC, Deirdre said “It is a great honour to have been nominated for this award by my alma mater. I am very proud of the fact that I was selected from amongst the many engineering graduates and very much appreciate the recognition of someone who has brought an Engineering qualification into another sphere.”

338MMcS