Senator Kathleen O'Meara,
Graduate Diploma in Journalism 1983, is a full-time politician and a member of Seanad Eireann. She stood in the General Elections of 1997 and 2000. She is Labour Whip in Seanad Eireann, party spokesperson on children and is an active campaigner. Her issues include fighting government policy to downgrade small hospitals as contained in the Hanly Report, as well as supporting the people of the Silvermines in their fight to restore their environment, which has been polluted through mining.

Michael Dwyer,
BA International Marketing & Languages 1985, is chief executive officer of Empathy Marketing Limited (Pigsback.com). Michael has worked in the FMCG sector for 15 years, with Jacobs, Danone and Green Isle Foods, before establishing Empathy Marketing Limited (EML) in April 2000. Michael has worked in Ireland, the UK and France.

Padraig McKeon,
BA Communication Studies 1986, a director with Drury Communications since 1997, has been appointed to the role of managing director. Active in the public relations industry since the mid-eighties, Padraig will continue to work closely with his current clients, which include Bank of Ireland, InterTrade Ireland and the Chip and Pin programme as well as taking responsibility for the day to day management of the business and the roll out of the three year development plan.

Tara Buckley,
Graduate Diploma in Journalism 1986, has been appointed Director General of RGDATA and IADT, the representative organisations for the independent retail sector. Tara was a reporter with the Sunday Tribune and the Irish Press Group where she worked in property and news before being appointed political correspondent, Evening Press. In 1995, she joined the Rehab Group as public relations manager and in January 1998 she was appointed General Manager Corporate Communications with Vhi. As Director General of RGDATA, Tara is responsible for representing independent retailers' interests to government, politicians and the media and for providing member support services.

Stephen Desmond,
BA Communication Studies 1987, has been appointed programme leader for the MA in Video Production & Film Studies at the London College of Music & Media (LCMM). Stephen has been employed by LCMM as senior lecturer in Video Production since September 2001. He has 15 years of teaching experience in a wide range of courses focusing on creative, technical and theoretical approaches to digital video production. Stephen has just completed a short documentary film entitled: Peace or Patriotism - Journalism, War and the Search for Truth. It includes interviews with award winning journalist Martin Bell OBE and peace prize winner Professor Monica McWilliams. Along with John Hume, Stephen is a member of the Board of the Centre for Conflict Resolution Journalism in Northern Ireland. In 1989 he was awarded a teaching scholarship to complete a Masters degree at the world-renowned University of Michigan in the US and graduated with an MA in Communications Studies in 1991.

Danny McGovern,
Bachelor Business Studies 1992, has recently been appointed senior vice president of Corporate Client Practice for the Galway branch of Marsh Ireland, a corporate insurance broker. Danny will be responsible for servicing the needs of Marsh Ireland's corporate clients in the Galway area and leads a team of 10 people based at the company's office in Spiddal, Co. Galway. Danny joined Marsh Ireland in 1997. He relocated to Galway in March 2000 and took a position as business development executive in the Galway office.

Alan Johnson, BSc Computer Applications 1994, is Director of Product Application Engineering at Infortrend Corporation in California. Infortrend designs and manufactures RAID Subsystems. RAID is an acronym for Redundant Arrays of Independent (Inexpensive) Disks and is designed to enhance the reliability of Data Storage Systems. Alan's day-to-day responsibility includes providing technical support to customers in North and South America along with day-to-day management of a team of highly qualified engineers. Other responsibilities include supporting customers in a number of pre and post sales roles such as how best to apply the product range within their application environment, along with the production of Application Notes, White Papers and Technical Training Materials.

Brian McCrory,
BSc Information Technology 1996, was recently appointed business development manager for Systems Solutions Limited, a leading IT solutions provider for the pharmacy sector. With primary responsibility for UK and overseas markets, Brian's remit is to focus specifically on creating and building key relationships with community pharmacy groups. Having gained over 20 years' experience, his previous roles include independent business consultant for several technology companies, business development manager for Tesco Ireland, and business development director at DSS. In addition to his qualifications from DCU, Brian also holds a degree in Engineering from Ulster University.

Peter Berry,
BSc Biotechnology 1996, is currently working for the Irish Equine Centre in Johnstown, Co. Kildare. The company is GLP and ISO 17025 accredited and supplies diagnostic, research, educational, pharmaceutical, quality control services to the Irish equine industry. Over the last number of years, the company has diversified and now provides a range of commercial tests for the food and agriculture industries including a western blotting based test for BSE which Peter is involved with. Prior to joining the Irish Equine Centre he worked as a part-time lecturer and research assistant at IT Sligo.

Seosaidh O'Connor,
Bachelor Business Studies 1998, works for Wyeth Medica as a HR consultant. Wyeth employs 1,500 people at their Newbridge site which produces solid dose pharmaceuticals. Seosaidh provides a full range of HR services to his client groups, focusing on organisational development, succession planning, project and change management, people development, mentoring and coaching. Since joining the company in 1998, he has held a variety of roles from employee relations officer to HR consultant and was the project manager for the implementation of a major IT solution on site. He is currently facilitating a global change programme (Shop Floor Excellence) involving sites from Ireland, Puerto Rico and the US.

James Sweetman,
MBA 1998, recently established James Sweetman & Associates, a company that delivers tailored Executive Coaching packages to organisations. Drawing on his 15 years experience in the financial services industry, James also works with companies as a business consultant focusing on the areas of employee motivation, leadership skills and change management. A regular speaker at conferences both in Ireland and overseas, James has also organised a number of seminars on topics like 'Coaching - Bridging the Gap', 'Emotional Intelligence' and 'Personal Effectiveness'. Since completing his MBA, James has obtained diplomas in Business and Personal Coaching and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). James also practices as a personal coach, working in partnership with clients from various backgrounds, assisting them in identifying and achieving their personal goals and ambitions.

Deirdre Foxe,
BSc Chemical Sciences 1999, is a research lab manager for the MEG lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the MEG (Magnetoencephalography) lab, non-invasive techniques are used to measure magnetic fields resulting from small electrical currents produced when cells in the brain are active. The lab has many users from Harvard Medical School, MIT and MGH. Deirdre is also part of a clinical team that studies pre-surgical patients with medically intractable focal epilepsies.

Liz Joyce,
MBS Human Resource Strategies 1999, has been appointed human resources director for Greenstar, Ireland's leading integrated waste management company. Liz has considerable experience, coming from Diageo Ireland where she worked for the last four years as a capability manager and also as human resources director of United Beverages. Previous to that she worked as head of human resources with Concern Worldwide. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (UCG).

Dr. Allan B Masterson,
PhD in Biotechnology 1999, is a publication planning executive in the Strategic Publication Planning Department at Excerpta Medica Medical Communications (a subsidiary of Elsevier) where he coordinates the publication of data from global patient registries in the area of venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis). Following a brief period of postdoctoral research at the National Cell and Tissue Culture Centre in DCU, he moved to the Vrije Universiteit Academic Hospital Amsterdam, the Netherlands in August 1999 to continue postdoctoral research in cancer immunotherapy at the Departments of Medical Oncology and Experimental Pathology. In autumn of 2003 he was a senior research scientist to the Department of Experimental Haematology at the famous Leiden University Medical Centre. With an eye on further education he began studying for an MBA in Life Sciences and Health in autumn 2004.

Marianna Eustace,
BA International Marketing & Languages 2000, has been appointed a brand manager position with RHM Ireland with responsibility for the following brands; Sharwood's, Bisto, Discovery Foods, Popz popcorn, Paxo, Saxa and Cadburys Cake Mixes. Prior to this appointment Marianna worked in C&C International, part of C&C Group, as marketing executive, where she managed a portfolio of Italian wines and spirit products. On graduating from DCU she took a position with Gilbeys of Ireland as marketing assistant on their portfolio of wines, working on brands including; Glen Ellen, Louis Latour, Santa Rita, Faustino, Blossom Hill.

Sandra Sweetman,
Bachelor of Nursing Studies 2003, is a Children's Nurse in Temple Street Hospital and is currently undertaking a Higher Diploma in Nursing (Sick Children's) in Temple Street. Her mother Mairead Sweetman also graduated from DCU in November 2002 with a BNS in Nursing. She is currently an Assistant Director of Nursing (Psychiatry) in St. Itas Hospital Portrane, Co Dublin.

Nollaig Ward,
Bachelor Business Studies 2003, is currently employed by Mood Media Ireland, one of the largest suppliers of music solutions to retail and hospitality across the country. After completing her Intra placement with Mood Media, the company invited her back as marketing manager for the hospitality sector. Among her duties, Nollaig is responsible for the generation of new business, coordination of the sales team, customer services and product development. The coming months will see an expansion of the Mood Media product range allowing for divergence into new markets. Nollaig will play an integral role in the planning and execution of the marketing plans across all product ranges.

If you would like to keep fellow graduates up to date on your movements, submit your profile to alumni@dcu.ie .