Some 56 students graduated with a BSc (Hons) (Accounting) followed by 111 BSc (Hons) Business Information Systems. A further 67 postgraduate students were conferred with an MBS in Business Economics; Business Information Systems; MIS & Managerial Accounting along with three PhD’s in Commerce.

An Honorary Masters degree in Commerce was conferred on Mr Dan Barrett in recognition of his major achievements in the growth of Irish retail giant, Dunnes Stores (citation attached).  

The Conferring Address was delivered by Dr Colin Hunt, Division Director, Macquarie Capital (attached).

Conferring Address by Dr Colin Hunt, Division Director, Macquarie Capital, September 11th 2009
President, members of Governing Body, distinguished guests, former lecturers, parents, partners and most especially those who have just received their freshly-minted degrees:

I was honoured to be asked to return to my primary alma mater.  As a recovering economist, I believe that every opportunity to participate in a joyous occasion should be seized with eagerness and enthusiasm, particularly in what is euphemistically described as the current, challenging climate.

I had a wonderful time here as I am constantly reminded.  Not only did I get two degrees from the place but I found a wife here as well. I left UCC in 1992.  It wasn’t the easiest time to be emerging into the world of work.  The Celtic Tiger had not been heard of, the world was struggling economically and mass unemployment was still a depressing feature of the national landscape. However, the highs and lows of the intervening years remind us of the fact that the economy is ever moving through a cycle.  Today, we stand close to the bottom of that cycle and there are some signs, admittedly tentative ones, that the bottom may already lie behind us. We can say with confidence that an upward path lies ahead. It may not be as steep as we would wish and we are unlikely to see the return of the sort of growth rates in the near term which were taken for granted less than two years ago.  However, the one thing we can say with anything approaching certainty is that better days lie ahead.  All of us have a responsibility to ensure that we play a part in the building of that better future.

Still, many of you will be understandably troubled by the challenging climate into which you have graduated.  Opportunities are scarcer now than they have been for quite some time and the economic outlook, both at home and abroad, is uncertain to say the least.  Yes, there have been better times to leave university and many of you will be tested in ways you could not possibly have foreseen when you entered this institution.  But if I can offer you one piece of advice, it is this:  Treat today as a milestone in your life experience, not as a destination. Constantly seek to improve your skills and talents whether through formal continuing education, professional qualifications or simple learning from all that life, work and play throws at you.  

Today, you leave UCC equipped with heads full of facts, formulae, methodologies.  Most importantly, you leave with an ability to think, a highly-portable apparatus that you can choose to use for the rest of your lives.  Continue to explore, to analyse and to adapt and you will make a successful contribution to your community and to society. If you are to be true to the qualifications with which you have been conferred today, you must treat learning as an unending process.  Knowledge is no load.  
 
High-quality, third level education plays a vital role in the building of a stronger economy.  In pure, utilitarian terms, a university education builds the stock of human capital, helps us to compete internationally and makes a direct contribution to our capacity to grow.  At an individual level, it leads to higher incomes and inspires innovation and entrepreneurial flair.  

However, these benefits are only part of the whole.  In my view, the biggest, most potent impacts of university education lie in the broadening of minds, the shaping of citizens, the enriching of our culture and in the inspiration of creativity. The benefits to society of your education are at least equal to the positive economic impacts. In terms of investment by the taxpayers of this country, I can think of no other area which produces anything like the rate of return of education investment.  But don’t just take my word for it.  The OECD last year estimated that the internal rate of return to higher education in Ireland was the highest in the world, proving unambiguously the value of participation in higher education in this country.  Not only does it make us stronger economically, investment in education makes a direct and sustained contribution to the building of a better society.  That is why it is vital that we work to ensure that every citizen of this republic has the opportunity to reach their potential and that the best means of delivering on this objective is ensuring that access to institutions like this one is driven by merit rather than background. Already we have made huge strides forward on this front.  In 1992, when I sat in the gown with new degree in hand, the participation rate in higher education was 36%.  Today, it stands near 60%.  That’s real progress, progress which will strengthen our economy and our society for decades to come.

I recall a song that my brother, who was a scientist but secretly wanted to be a classicist, loved. According to the oracle of truth and wisdom that is Wikipedia, this song, called De Brevitate Vitae, On the Shortness of Life, is a popular academic song in many European countries, and is mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. It is better known by its opening line, Gaudeamus Igitur.  In the vernacular, that translates as Therefore, let us rejoice.  
It’s a pretty appropriate sentiment today.  As graduates of this fine College, you can rejoice in your success, in the experiences gained and, perhaps most importantly, in the friendships that you have made here over the past number of years.  Those friendships, forged in the lecture theatres, on the field of play and in the societies that play a critical role in the vibrant life of this institution will continue to be a major part of all your lives.  
 
For parents and family, you too can rejoice on this day in the lives of our new graduates. After years of nurturing your offspring and of making sacrifices to get them to this point, today they are emerging into the world as graduates, equipped with one of the best educations which this country can offer and with all the capabilities necessary to compete in a globalised marketplace.  You have every right to be proud of their achievements and the major, formative role you have played in their lives.
 
Your lecturers also have occasion to rejoice today.  Guided by their expertise and commitment to learning, you have come through challenging degree programmes and, I imagine, a gruelling set of exams.  Today, you will cut your high frequency ties to them but I am sure they hope that you will keep in touch in the future as distinguished alumni.  

Today is a day for celebration:  Celebration in your academic achievements, celebration in the relationships which you founded here and celebration in your futures.  The opening lines of that song I mentioned are as valid today as they were in the 13th century when they were first sung.  

Gaudeamus Igitur.  Therefore, let us rejoice.

ENDS
______________

Citation for William Daniel Barrett on the conferment of an Honorary Master of Commerce - September 11th 2009
President, Academic Colleagues, Graduates, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.  I am honoured to present Mr. Dan Barrett to you as the recipient today of an Honorary Masters Degree in Commerce from University College Cork.

Dan, was born in Cork in 1921.  He is a middle child of a family of nine.  He attended Glasheen Primary school and then went on to continue his secondary education at Presentation Brothers Secondary School.  During his secondary schooling Dan excelled at Rugby.  Playing for Presentation Brothers School he went on to win a Munster School Cap. His early successes on the rugby pitch continued after school when he went on to join Highfield Rubgy Club. Here he captained a Munster Junior Inter Provincial team in 1950/51 and in 1951/52.  In addition he won a Munster Junior Cap twice.

Dan began his working career as an assistant in Roches Stores in 1940.  It was here that his talents and skills in the retail business began to emerge and where, at the same time, his life long relationship with Ben Dunne Senior began. In the 1940s if you had a job in Roches Stores people considered that you were “made for life”.  However, both Ben Dunne and Dan Barrett had other ideas.  In 1944 Ben Dunne Senior decided to open his own business and asked Dan to join him as an assistant in this new venture.  Dan jumped at the opportunity, left his ‘safe’ job, of course doing so without telling his parents, and moved across the street where the first Dunnes Stores shop was opened in 105 Patrick Street.  Obviously when we look back we can see that those talents and skill which emerged in the early part of the decade continued to develop and eventually led to great success. As he says himself, Dan could never have visualised how Dunnes Stores would take shape in the following decades.

As the first employee of the Dunnes Stores, Dan has seen incredible growth in the company which now has 17,000 employees in Ireland and abroad.  In conversation with him and his wife it is clear that Ben Dunne Senior is considered by Dan to have been a great mentor and teacher, from whom Dan has acquired a great deal of knowledge and skill. He has described Ben Dunne Senior as the greatest “guru” in the retail business world.  Mr. Barrett has gone on to serve as a Director of Dunnes Stores in a long, clearly rewarding and exciting career involving, amongst many other elements, extensive travel throughout the USA, UK, and Europe.  It is indeed a great achievement for Dan to have cut the ribbon at the official opening of the newly reborn multi-million euro commercial centre at 102-105 Patrick Street yesterday, September 10th, 2009.  This is where the very first store was opened at the tail end of World War II, when both food and clothes were rationed and emigration by ferry was the norm.  Today, more than half a century later, the newly reborn centre is trading with 120,000 sq feet of space over four levels.  

Leaving the ribbon cutting aside, Dan is not content to sit at home when many of us would welcome a break on retirement. He still goes into the office every day for a few hours and we wish him continued good health and success.

A description of Dan’s rewarding and intriguing path in life would not be complete without paying tribute to his wife Pat who graciously provided us with great insight into his career and time with Ben Dunne Senior. They will be married for fifty-four years this month.  They have three children and six grandchildren.  They continue to be involved in their community and many charities.

It is an honour for me, President, to commend Dan Barrett to you today and to ask you to confer an Honorary Masters Degree in Commerce on this most worthy Irish businessman, recognising his major achievements in the growth of the great Irish retail giant, Dunnes Stores.

ENDS

1134MMcS

 

 

 

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