Announcing the sponsorship, President of UCC and Director of the Quercus Programme, Prof. John O’Halloran said: “We are delighted to welcome Bank of Ireland as the new sponsor of the Quercus Talented Students’ Programme. Our relationship with the Bank is a longstanding one, and their sponsorship of our Quercus scholarships further cements that connection and allows us to continue to support amazing student achievement across a range of domains. Quercus is the Latin for oak and in UCC we use the symbolism ‘from acorn to mighty oak’ to represent the growth that arises from nurturing talent through support, challenge and mentoring both academically and in other areas of talent.”

The programme, which was established in 2013, supports students in five areas of endeavour, namely: Academic, Active Citizenship, Creative and Performing Arts, Innovation/Entrepreneurship and Sport. To date it has supported 176 students across all of the talent areas with notable current Quercus scholars including Olympic gold medallist and Medicine student, Paul O’Donovan; Olympic Bronze medallist and science student, Emily Hegarty; Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year and Law and Business student, Nick Cotter; Young Offenders actor and Theatre and Performative Practices student, Jennifer Barry and Munster rugby senior player and Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship student, Alex Kendellen.

Among its alumni, the programme counts Clare hurler Shane O’Donnell, disability activist and sports columnist Joanne O’Riordan and four time All Ireland winner with Cork camogie, Amy O’Connor, along with All Ireland winner with Kerry Brian O’Beaglaoich, Paralympian Mary Fitzgerald and Overall BTSE, European Young Scientist and Google world Science Fair winners Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy Thow.

“Excellence underpins everything we do at UCC, and the Quercus Scholarship allows us to recognise exceptional students when they join, as well as those who develop their talents while studying here” concluded Prof. O’Halloran.

At the announcement of the sponsorship, Bank of Ireland Director South, Ian McMorrough said, “We are extremely proud in Bank of Ireland to have the opportunity to support such a broad range of diverse talent here amongst the UCC student body. We are delighted to support a programme in which academic excellence can be combined with opportunities for personal development and we look forward to seeing all that these students can achieve over the coming years. Exciting times ahead!”