2007 Press Releases

Distinguished UCC Graduates Honoured
07.12.2007

Outstanding achievers in the fields of arts, the judiciary, business and medicine are to be honoured by UCC at the 2007 Alumni Achievement Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Henry Ford & Son Limited, which takes place this evening (Friday, December 7th 2007) at UCC.

The four UCC graduates who are being honoured are:-

THEO DORGAN – Poet, prose writer, editor and broadcaster.

The HONOURABLE, MR JUSTICE BRYAN McMAHON – High Court Judge, Adjunct Professor of Law, Faculty of Law UCC and Chairman of the Abbey Theatre.

PROFESSOR GERALD O’SULLIVAN – President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Consultant Surgeon at the Mercy University Hospital Cork, Professor and Director in Chief of the Cork Cancer Research Centre.

LIAM O’MAHONY – Chief Executive CRH plc.

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.  Dr Michael Murphy, 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. With a student body of some 17,000 students, including over 2,000 from 83 countries worldwide, and some 2,500 members of staff, UCC is consistently rated as Ireland’s premier research university 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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President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award

President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Professor Gerald O’Sullivan is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2007 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, December 7th 2007) at UCC.  

Professor O’Sullivan is being honoured by UCC’s College of Medicine & Health as one of the great pioneering surgeons of modern Ireland who has dedicated his life work to the pursuit of excellence in clinical and scientific oncology.

A native of Skibbereen in West Cork, Gerry O’Sullivan graduated from University College Cork in 1969 with a degree in Medicine and following surgical residencies in Ireland, Canada and the US, was appointed Consultant Surgeon at the Mercy University Hospital, Cork in 1985 and to a Chair in the Department of Surgery at UCC in 1999.

Gerry is the Founder and Director in Chief of the Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC), an independently funded, multi disciplinary group of 34 scientists which investigates mechanisms that may be applied towards the prevention of cancer development and the control of cancer spread. Gerry’s dedication to his work and inspiring leadership is reflected in his success in securing over €30 million worth of research funding through public and private bodies in the last decade.

Gerry is the first ever Cork based surgeon to be made President of the RCSI in its 225 year history.  He has received many international awards and accolades for his research over the years including twelve eponymous international lectures and the honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow.  In 2002, he received the Moynihan Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons in England, and next October he will be made an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Gerry has served with distinction on many professional Boards and Committees.  He was President of the Irish Society of Gastroenterology, Chairman of the British Oesophageal Group and is a Member of the Senate of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Member of the Competence Assurance Advisary Committee of the Medical Council, Member of Comhairle na nOspideal and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Medical University of Bahrain.

Gerry has been a great mentor and teacher; he has supervised 25 doctoral theses and has mentored many who have distinguished themselves as scientists or consultant surgeons.  He is a great ambassador for UCC and has been visiting Professor to the University of Southern California, Aintree Trust, Liverpool and Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow and the University of Hong Kong.   He is involved in extensive collaborative studies with colleagues at UCC, Harvard Medical School, Yale University, University of Southern, California, Queens University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, RCSI and RCS Glasgow.

Gerry has played a leading role in the development of a combined surgical training programme between RCSI and the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa.

Gerry credits much of his success in his life work to his wife Breda and family and to his education at UCC.   He said: “To be recognised by your Alma Mater in this way is a huge honour and a great privilege for me.  I am thankful for the many opportunities I have been given because of the great foundation in education I received at UCC.  Thanks to everyone here for granting me this honour.”

The Alumni Achievement Awards are again sponsored by Henry Ford & Son Ltd.
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Chief Executive of CRH plc to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award

Liam O’Mahony, Chief Executive of CRH Plc is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2007 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, December 7th 2007) in UCC.

Liam O’Mahony is being honoured by UCC’s College of Science, Engineering & Food Science as one of Ireland’s most outstanding international business leaders.

A native of Tipperary, Liam O’Mahony graduated from University College Cork in 1967 with an honours degree in Civil Engineering.  Liam holds an MBA degree from Trinity College Dublin and qualified as a Barrister at Law at Kings Inns in 1976 where he was awarded the John Brooke Scholarship as first-placed graduate.

After graduation, Liam worked in design and project management in Ireland and the UK before joining CRH in 1971 as a Development Manager.  CRH was founded the previous year, with the merger of Irish building materials companies, Irish Cement and Roadstone.  Liam, who describes himself as ‘a lifer at CRH’, has held senior management positions in the company including Chief Operating Officer of the United States between 1986 and 1991 and Operations and Managing Director, Republic of Ireland and UK Group companies between 1976 and 1986.  He joined the CRH Board in 1992 and was appointed Chief Executive, Oldcastle, Inc (the holding company for CRH’s North American operations) in November 1994.  Growth has been rapid and organic in the US and during his tenure as head of the US operations Liam was instrumental in growing CRH’s North American business from $700m to $5 billion in 2000.  

Liam was appointed Group Chief Executive in January 2000.  Under his leadership, the Group’s turnover grew from €26m in 1971 to in excess of €20 Billion today.  The CRH Group focuses on three closely related core businesses: primary materials, value-added building products and building materials distribution.  CRH currently operates in 30 countries and on three continents and employs over 80,000 people at over 3,300 locations, making it the world’s second biggest maker and distributor of building materials. CRH is increasingly moving out from its two-continent Europe-US strategy and investing in China and shifting its focus even further eastward.  
Liam has received many accolades over the years including Business & Finance Business Person of the Year Award for 2005.  The CRH Group has consistently won the annual IR Magazine Ireland Awards for Best Annual Report and Best Corporate Governance.  Liam is in high demand as a guest speaker at international business management conferences. He is a member of the Irish Management Institute Council and of the Harvard Business School European Advisory Board.

Despite its virtual global domination of the building materials market, CRH is still fundamentally an Irish company with its headquarters in Ireland and is the largest Irish corporate investor in the continent.  Liam is due to retire as Chief Executive in December 2008 and leaves behind a strong legacy of success.

Liam is very proud of being a graduate of UCC and the Faculty of Engineering.  On hearing of this Award, Liam said: “While I have been involved in the field of business for most of my life, I think of myself first and foremost as an Engineer.  I feel truly honoured to be recognised by my original alma mater, UCC, as a recipient of a 2007 Alumnus Achievement Award.”

The Alumni Achievement Awards are again sponsored by Henry Ford & Son Ltd.
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Distinguished Poet & Broadcaster to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award

Poet and broadcaster, Theo Dorgan is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2007 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, December 7th 2007) at UCC.  

Theo Dorgan is being honoured by UCC’s College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences as one of Ireland’s best know poets and broadcasters on literature and culture.  

A native of Cork, Theo Dorgan graduated from University College Cork with a BA in English and Philosophy in 1975 and a Masters in English in 1984.  Theo is also an editor, prose writer, translator and has written scripts for film documentaries, with a prolific body of work to his credit.

Theo is the author of three books of poems:  The Ordinary House of Love (1991), Rosa Mundi (1995) and Sappho’s Daughter (1998).  He is the editor of the authoritative Irish Poetry Since Kavanagh (1996), co-editor (with Máirín Ni Dhonnchadha) of the widely-cited collection of historical essays, Revising the Rising (1991) and co-editor with Noel Duffy of the millennium anthology of Irish poetry, Watching the River Flow (2000).  
Theo’s work has appeared in many international journals and anthologies and his poetry and prose has been translated into nine different languages.

Theo was the originator and co-editor (with Gene Lambert) of The Great Book of Ireland/Leabhar Mór na hEireann a manuscript volume containing the work of 250 poets and artists working directly on to the vellum pages of this single-copy book.  Former President of Ireland,  Mary Robinson has described the work as “A Book of Kells for the 21st century, an icon for the new Ireland”. Together with Malcolm MacLean he is also co-editor of An Leabhar Mór na hÉireann which brings together the work of 100 poets, together with 100 contemporary artists from the Gaelic traditions of Ireland and Scotland.

Theo is the author of Sailing for Home (2004), a prose account of a transatlantic voyage under sail which, according to Nobel laureate Doris Lessing is  a book for everyone’. Theo’s translations of the poet Barbara Korun has been praised as the best translations into English from Slovenian for many years.  

Theo is also a highly accomplished broadcaster and has presented a wide range of culture and literature programmes with RTE for the past twenty-five years including the Radio 1 books programme, Inprint; the RTE 1 television books programme, Imprint and the RTE Lyric FM interview series, The Invisible Thread.  He has also written the scripts for and narrated four documentaries for the highly acclaimed RTE/BBC Northern Ireland Hidden Treasures series.   

Theo has written a libretto, Jason and the Argonauts, to music by Howard Goodall, which was commissioned by and premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in 2004.   Most recently Theo has edited and compiled a Book of Uncommon Prayer which aims to build bridges between non-believers and believers through recuperating texts that celebrate our common humanity.

Theo has received many accolades for his work.  He was Director of Poetry Ireland from 1989-1990 and has won the Listowel Prize for Poetry, 1992.  He has sat on numerous Boards including the Triskel Arts Centre, the Irish Writers Centre, The Irish Writers Union and the Projects Art Centre among many others. He is a member of Aosdána and was appointed to The Arts Council in 2003.  

Commenting on his student days at UCC, Theo said: “I am honoured to accept this award because it allows me to thank this University for the generous shelter afforded to my mind and spirit when I was young. I acknowledge this award, too, as a vindication of my parents and their heroic belief in the power of education to make us free.”

The Alumni Achievement Awards are again sponsored by Henry Ford & Son Ltd.
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High Court Judge to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award

The Honourable Mr Justice Bryan McMahon is to be honoured with a UCC Alumnus Achievement Award.  The 2007 Awards Ceremony takes place this evening (Friday, December 7th 2007) at UCC.

Mr Justice McMahon is being honoured by UCC’s College of Business and Law in recognition of his distinguished career in Law and for his excellent public service.

A native of Listowel, County Kerry, Bryan has had a long association with University College Cork dating back to 1967 when he was first retained by the Faculty of Law as a Statutory Lecturer.  He was awarded his PhD from UCC in 1972 and went on to become Professor of Law and Head of the Department of Law.  He was appointed Adjunct Professor of Law in 2004.

The transformation of the Law Faculty, UCC from a largely part-time staff to a full-fledged law faculty with a strong cohort of full time academic staff, and substantial numbers of undergraduate and postgraduate students, took place under Bryan’s remit.  The connection with Harvard Law School, the summer school he established with Temple University, Philadelphia; and the introduction of the Moot Court Programme in the BCL course of study, represent a commitment to internationalization and best practice in legal education which have guided the growth and establishment of the reputation of law in UCC.

Bryan studied for his undergraduate degree at University College Dublin where he obtained a BCL degree in 1962 and an LLB in 1963.  He qualified as a Solicitor in 1964 and subsequently undertook further postgraduate study at Harvard Law School, having been awarded the Harvard Fellowship.  

In 1987 Bryan went into private practice as a Senior Partner with law firm, Houlihan and McMahon in Ennis, Co. Clare whilst maintaining links with academia as a part-time Chair of Law at NUI Galway. While still in practice, he was appointed by the Government to chair the National Crime Forum, publishing his report in 1999.

Bryan was appointed as a Judge of the Circuit Court in 1999, marking a new chapter in his career. In 2002, he was appointed Chairman of the National Archives Council and in 2003 he was invited by the Heads of Irish Universities to Chair the Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB).  In September 2005, Bryan was appointed Chairman of the Abbey Theatre, a particular honour given his strong family roots in literature and the arts.  He was appointed to the High Court in May 2007 with immediate responsibility to Chair the Redress Board set up to compensate children who suffered abuse while in custody in State institutions.

Bryan has authored many authoritative legal texts including Law of Torts, co-authored with William Binchy (1980, 1989, 3rd edition 2000); Casebook on Irish Law of Torts, also co-authored with William Binchy (1983, 1991, 3rd edition 2000) and European Community Law in Ireland, co-authored with F. Murphy (1989).

Bryan has lectured extensively in universities across the UK, Europe and the USA and has been Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, Oxford and Temple Law School in Pennsylvania.  He developed strong links with Brussels and has been Staigaire Professor with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France and a member of the Commission on European Contract Law.

Reacting to his Alumnus Achievement Award, Bryan quotes from Padraig Colum’s  poem A Poor Scholar of the Forties:  “But what avail my teaching slight?  Years hence, in rustic speech a phrase, As in wild earth a Grecian vase.”

The Alumni Achievement Awards are again sponsored by Henry Ford & Son Ltd.

Pictured at the Awards Ceremony are L-R: Theo Dorgan, The Honourable, Mr Justice Bryan McMahon, Professor Gerald O'Sullivan, Liam O'Mahony.

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