Ninth Level Ireland

“For many, graduating from college is an incredibly important life event. It marks the closing of one chapter on someone’s path through life and the opening of a new one. Perhaps, for this year’s graduates, after over a year of being apart, it is even more important as it gives us an opportunity to be together for one last time …” (more)

[Jonathan Andrews, University Times, 20 October]

“The first graduates from the Moylish, Clare Street, Thurles, Clonmel and Ennis campuses of the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS), will be conferred at a special ceremony at the newly named TUS Gaelic Grounds this November …” (more)

[Sean Finnan, Limerick Post, 1 October]

“A series of in-person graduation ceremonies are to be held over the coming months, subject to public health guidelines, College has said. The ceremonies will be held in the Exam Hall and will facilitate graduands from the class of 2021 at first, followed by those whose graduations were not marked during the pandemic …” (more)

[Meabh Gallagher, University Times, 27 September]

“All UCC graduates of the class of 2020-21 were virtually conferred between April 2020 – July 2021. That was of course because on-campus graduations could not occur due to restrictions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown …” (more)

[James Clancy, CorkBeo, 25 September]

“Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the person or body which determines whether graduation ceremonies will be held in person or online; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 22 September]

“University chiefs blasted by thousands of families for forcing students to graduate online at the end of next month – despite the easing of Covid-19 restrictions – have insisted they’re not for turning. In one week flat, over 3,000 people have signed an online petition that challenges the refusal by Technological University Dublin (TUD) bigwigs to hold in-person graduation ceremonies between October 26-29 …” (more)

[Dublin Live, 16 September]

“Graduations ceremonies which are due to take place in the coming weeks will be limited to just 190 students per ceremony despite the event taking place outside in the Quad beside the Students’ Centre …” (more)

[Hugh Dooley, College Tribune, 20 August]

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has written an open letter to higher-education institutions asking for the return of in-person graduation ceremonies. The ‘Give Us Our Grad’ campaign will see students’ unions across Ireland write to the heads of their institutions to allow graduands to mark the milestone on campus …” (more)

[Mairead Maguire, University Times, 19 August]

“The head of the student body at NUI Galway has called on the university to ensure that an in-person ceremony takes place for this year’s graduates – with only an online function currently planned for …” (more)

[Stephen Corrigan, Connacht Tribune, 15 August]

“Sierra Murphy, a business and Spanish student at Trinity College Dublin, never thought she’d get a chance to graduate in a gown alongside her friends and family. ‘We’ve missed out on so many things, like our last Trinity ball, our last classes, our last exams and all those celebrations’, says Murphy (24), who was due to graduate last year …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 11 August]

“Graduands who would have graduated at commencement ceremonies at the start of November have been given an option between being conferred at a virtual ceremony, or deferring their graduation to a future date. Students due to graduate can choose between a virtual ceremony in November, or deferring their ceremony to a live event at some time in the future …” (more)

[Lauren Boland, Trinity News, 28 September]

“University College Dublin (UCD) will hold ‘in-person’ celebration ceremonies for students whose degrees have been conferred virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an announcement by the UCD Students’ Union …” (more)

[Nessa Collins, College Tribune, 14 August]

“A full graduation ceremony is to take place for the University of Limerick Class of 2020 ‘as long as a second wave of Covid-19 does not hit prior to this’, it has been confirmed. UL Student Life has released a statement on its their website to update students on the situation …” (more)

[Martin Mongan, Limerick Leader, 10 August]

“University of Limerick (UL) graduates will have a Covid conferral next month but they’ll have to wait a while longer before they can celebrate their graduation. UL’s autumn conferring ceremonies were due to take place during the week of August 24 to 28 but the ceremonies were cancelled earlier this summer …” (more)

[Nicole Glennon, Limerick Post, 23 July]

“University College Dublin (UCD) will be holding virtual graduation ceremonies this September due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to the UCD Conferring Unit. Jennifer McGowan, Conferring and Awards Assistant at the UCD Conferring Unit, confirmed to a student by email that upcoming graduation ceremonies ‘will be virtual, but we will be letting students know if this changes’ …” (more)

[Nessa Collins, College Tribune, 14 July]

“As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, graduation ceremonies for the class of 2020 have been cancelled or postponed at schools and universities around the world. University College Dublin (UCD) is no exception, with several of the university’s conferring ceremonies already being postponed to a later date …” (more)

[Isobel Dunne, College Tribune, 19 June]

“Over 2,500 people have signed an online petition calling on the University of Limerick to defer the Autumn 2020 graduation ceremonies until a safer date, rather than digitize the event. UL have cancelled the conferring ceremonies due to take place between Monday 24th of August and Friday 28th of August 2020 …” (more)

[Limerick Leader, 18 June]

“The University of Limerick has defended its decision to cancel conferring ceremonies as originally planned for August ‘in light of the public health directives issued by the government’ in relation to Covid-19 …” (more)

[Limerick Leader, 11 June]

“We recently looked at the issue of how universities were going to approach graduation under lockdown. One of the most entertaining approaches included the involvement of robots in place of graduands at a Japanese university …” (more)

[Paul Greatrix, Wonkhe, 18 May]

“Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) will not hold graduation ceremonies on its campus this summer. The university emailed students at the weekend to tell them it will hold ‘virtual’ ceremonies for students due to graduate instead …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 3 May]