Ninth Level Ireland

“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]

“Some 228 University College Dublin (UCD) medicine students graduated on Friday during a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus restrictions. In 17 days time many of the new graduates will begin medical internships on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19 in Irish hospitals …” (more)

[Jack Power, Irish Times, 1 May]

“The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and President Michael D Higgins have sent messages of congratulations to over 130 new doctors who have graduated from the University of Limerick. The final year students at the Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) are UL’s first ever cohort of students to be conferred remotely in absentia due to the Covid-19 crisis …” (more)

[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 29 April]

“Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Trinity’s graduating medicine students that they’ll play a vital role in battling the coronavirus pandemic, in an online graduation ceremony held so students can join the frontlines in the next month …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 28 April]

“Almost every graduating doctor this year is to be offered an internship in a bid to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged. For the first time, more than 1,000 internships are to be offered to this year’s medical students as they graduate, according to Mr Varadkar …” (more)

[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 17 April]

“The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar will address 197 medical graduates at University College Cork (UCC) in a special video message tomorrow (Friday, April 17th) as they take part in the University’s first-ever online graduation ceremony. Their graduation has been brought forward to assist the health service during the COVID-19 pandemic …” (more)

[Mary Corcoran, EchoLive, 16 April]

“Some 532 Trinity students have been conferred with their degrees in absentia in a commencement ceremony on Zoom, marking the first time a graduation has been held online. Chancellor Mary McAleese conferred the degrees in the traditional Latin, in a ceremony that will be later uploaded online, according to Provost Patrick Prendergast …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 7 April]

“The graduation of 190 medical students from NUIG has been fast-tracked to ensure more doctors are available to work during the Covid-19 pandemic. NUI Galway’s 2020 graduation event, which was held online for the first time, took place on Monday morning through a Facebook live event. The students’ final year exams had previously been brought forward to enable them to enter the healthcare workforce without delay …” (more)

[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 6 April]

“NUI Galway is to hold two virtual conferring ceremonies for more than 300 medical graduates and their families. The university took the decision to bring the final year medical examinations and graduation forward to ensure that the medical graduates would be available to enter the healthcare workforce …” (more)

[Conall Ó Fátharta, Irish Examiner, 3 April]

“Ulster University has decided to postpone summer graduations because of coronavirus with a view to rescheduling ceremonies for later this year. In a letter to students and staff Professor Paul Bartholomew Interim Vice-Chancellor said …” (more)

[Garrett Hargan, Derry Now, 30 March]

“Physical commencement ceremonies – due to take place in April – have been cancelled, Trinity has announced, with graduations set to be live streamed instead and students conferred with their degrees in absentia …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee and Emer Moreau, University Times, 19 March]

“Student protests are taking place at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) after a decision was made by the college to hold their graduation ceremony in the local arts centre and not on campus as in previous years …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 11 October]

“Students at Dundalk IT staged a protest this morning against the institute’s plans to hold this year’s graduation ceremony off campus. Last week Dundalk IT announced that this year’s graduation ceremony, which runs from October 31st to November 2nd, would take place in the town centre rather than on campus as has been the case in recent years …” (more)

[Talk of the Town, 10 October]

“Local councillor Ruairí Ó Murchú has called on the management and the President of Dundalk Institute of Technology to engage with students and staff regarding the possible relocation of graduation ceremonies at the end of this month …” (more)

[Talk of the Town, 9 October]

“Calls by students and staff for the President of Dundalk IT to reverse his decision to move the annual graduation ceremony off campus appear to have fallen on deaf ears, according to the Teachers’ Union of Ireland. Staff and students at the Dublin Road institute were informed on Friday morning via email by DkIT President Michael Mulvey that he planned to proceed with moving the conferring ceremony at the end of the month to An Táin Theatre after plans to hold the graduation in St Patrick’s Cathedral fell through …” (more)

[Talk of the Town, 4 October]

“Several times a year, Front Square becomes a flurry of black robes, airborne hats and camera flashes as Trinity’s graduates celebrate receiving academic degrees. But for many, as the Irish Times discussed this week, the ceremony is not the day of unbridled delight that it should be. The practice of separating graduands into academic brackets – revealing the relative standing of each in terms of their grades – is self-evidently a misguided and antiquated way to run a graduation ceremony …” (more)

[University Times, 13 May]