Autumn Graduation 2009
12 November 2009

Over 2,500 graduates received their degrees at ceremonies held at DCU on Monday and Tuesday this week.

The first graduates of the new Masters programme in Emergency Management received their parchments at Tuesday’s ceremony.  Pictured here are Denis Keely, Firefighter, Dublin Fire Brigade, Paul Grey of the Ambulance Service, North-East Division and Mark Wilson, Fire Officer, Dublin Fire Brigade.

The MSc in Emergency Management is the first degree of its kind in Ireland.  It was developed for professionals working in emergency services, members of the business community and those involved in post-disaster recovery, to deal with and manage disasters.  These can include biologically-based disasters, traffic disasters, natural disasters such as storms and floods and human-initiated disasters such as bombings.

The programme has been endorsed as suitable for improving the emergency management skills of individuals in both the public and private sector by the National Steering Group for Major Emergency Management, The Emergency Planning Society and Pharmachemical Ireland.

The subjects covered by the degree include crisis communications, hazard analysis, risk analysis, human aspects of emergencies, problem structuring and decision-making.

Today's group of graduands included Paul Grey of the Ambulance Service, operations manager for County Meath, responsible for three front-line stations - Navan, Dunshauglin and Drogheda; Mark Wilson, Dublin Fire Brigade and and Colm Megan of the Ambulance Service.

Speaking at graduation ceremonies, DCU President, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, said that over recent months Irish universities had made major advances in global rankings; there are now five of them in the top 300 universities in the world. However, just as this is happening they are coming under threat at home, and some of the key elements that have produced these gains are now under threat.

He attributes this to An Bord Snip Nua (the McCarthy report) which has called the usefulness of university research into question.  He believes the financial basis of universities is being undermined by decisions on fees and reductions in state funding, and says also that there are signs that the autonomy of universities is being eroded.

"These developments go to the heart of what allows our universities  to offer quality and to support Ireland's bid to escape from recession. If we downgrade out universities, undermine their financial viability, cut their research and control them centrally, they will cease to be a magnet for international investment in Ireland. Ireland's drive to recover prosperity and growth will not succeed so easily", he said.

"All of this is taking place because it seems that some key decision-makers and opinion formers don't understand the role of universities in a modern country; but perhaps this is also the universities' fault in not explaining this well enough and demonstrating its truth.

"It has not been adequately recognised, but the strength and vitality of our universities are the main instrument we have for national recovery. Unless this is understood, we are doomed to return to the experience of the 1970s and 1980s of economic decline and national crisis. It should not be allowed to happen.

This year’s Chancellor’s Medal was awarded to Allan Dixon. Click to read Chancellor's Medal citation from the Autumn Graduation 2009.

Newly qualified teachers commended:  www.dcu.ie/education_studies/news_gded_award.shtml