Emma Andrews, BA Hons Fine and Applied Arts 1999, Belfast
A textile artist whose work has appeared on the TV show Game of Thrones was among hundreds of Ireland's top crafts people and designers who recently showcased their work at the National Crafts and Design Fair in Dublin.
Emma Andrews from Co Down designs and makes the soft furnishing for the hit fantasy TV show. However, the Ulster University graduate was not showcasing the bedrooms, divans, tents, flags and banners she designs for the Game of Throne sets - instead she exhibited her textile-based jewellery range.
CEO of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland Brian McGee said: “We have over 6,000 talented designers and makers living and working throughout every town and county in Ireland, dedicated to their craft and passionate about it too. Collectively, they contribute in excess of a half a billion euros to the Irish economy but more importantly they bring economic activity and vibrancy to their localities.”
Full story can be found: © UTV Ireland
Rosamond Bennett, BA Hons European Business Studies 1990, Jordanstown
Banbridge-born Rosamond Bennett is now heading up an Irish charity which has found itself in the eye of the humanitarian storm over refugees - a mind-boggling 42 million of them, a figure which is soaring every day thanks to the Syrian war.
Rosamond, who previously worked for the Northern Bank, has admitted that she has had to rely on her lifelong Christian faith to stop her plunging into despair over the scale of the refugee horror, which she has seen at first hand in her role as the CEO of Christian Aid Ireland, a post she moved into three years ago after a dramatic career change.
"I didn't want mortgages and finance to be my legacy and I took redundancy from the bank in January 2012, with the hope of finding work with a charity in a way which would show my Christian faith. Then I spotted the advertisement for the job as CEO for Christian Aid, and thankfully I got it."
Rosamond says: "There's no doubt that the biggest cause of poverty is conflict, which has forced people to flee from their homes. We're talking about south Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo - the list is endless."
Rosamond was recently in northern Iraq where she met refugees from Syria and from within Iraq itself.
But given the difficulties which the organisation currently faces, it's a bitter irony that it was a refugee crisis across Europe after the Second World War that gave birth to Christian Aid as churches came together to do something about it. However, the charity which works with almost 500 partner organisations in 43 countries worldwide, says there are more refugees now than there were back then.
Full story can be found: Belfast Telegraph
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Johanna Craig, BA Hons English 2014, Coleraine
I loved every moment of my time at Ulster University in Coleraine, meeting fantastic friends and enjoying everything the North Coast has to offer.
Following graduation I received an offer to join Parity’s INTRO graduate programme, a partnership between Parity Professionals, Ulster University and the Department for Employment and Learning NI. This led to a post at Texthelp Ltd, an Antrim based Technology Company which produces literacy, accessibility and dyslexia software.
After successfully applying for the Mountbatten program, I was offered a one year corporate placement with Credit Suisse US.
I have been working in New York for almost a year now, and it has been a life changing experience. Through the Mountbatten program I have grown both professionally and personally and have made lifelong friendships. The team at Credit Suisse have encouraged me to pursue my own interests within my role and as a result I have gained skills I never anticipated learning. Living in a city with so much energy has also been incredible - I have learned to live with very little sleep!
Source: Graduate
Stephen Farnan, BA Hons Fine and Applied Arts 1998, Belfast
Like all creative people, Belfast-based potter Stephen Farnan is constantly evolving and perfecting his art and, at 40 years old, is on the cusp of taking his unique Northern Ireland-inspired pieces right across the world.
Stephen is one of a number of local arts and craft designers whose work has been sourced for what is a first for the creative community in the province.
Originally from Armagh, Stephen studied art in Belfast and then added to his degree in Applied and Fine Arts with an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art in London. He spent the next few years travelling the world before returning home in 2002 and opening his first studio in Benburb. Three years ago he moved his business to Belfast, where he has a studio in Townsend Enterprise Park. Since then he has become a much in demand artist and, in fact, his business has grown to the point where he now has two staff helping to fulfil commissions.
A selection of Stephen's drawings on porcelain featuring a number of famous Belfast landmarks including the Albert Clock, Harland and Wolff cranes and Belfast City Hall are available from a new online gift shop, as well as the Belfast Telegraph range he has produced.
To view the full range follow this link to the Belfast Telegraph Studio
Full story can be found: Belfast Telegraph
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Maggie Farrelly, PGD Sports Development and Coaching 2014, Jordanstown
Maggie Farrelly made history by becoming the first woman to referee a senior inter-county GAA game, when she refereed the meeting of Fermanagh and St Mary’s in the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup in Garvaghey.
Last year, she became the first female to take charge of an inter-county game when she was in the middle for the Ulster minor Championship tie at Brewster Park, between Fermanagh and Antrim.
Despite only taking up refereeing in 2008, she joined the Ulster GAA Referee Academy in 2011.
Her first final came the following year, when she refereed the Cavan All-County League decider. In 2014, she refereed the county U-21 final, the All-Ireland Ladies' senior final, and was named Ulster GAA Referee of the Year.
Full story can be found: Independent.ie
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Ruth Finnegan OBE, Classics 1952, Magee/TCD
Ruth Finnegan, a renowned scholar and an Emeritus Professor at the Open University, has published a new novel Black Inked Pearl: A Girl's Quest.
Ruth is the daughter of Professor Tom Finnegan, a former Provost of Magee, and very generously sponsors two prizes to students, The Agnes Finnegan Peace Prize and The Tom Finnegan Peace Prize.
The novel, born in dreams, is an epic romance between a naïve Irish girl, Kate, and her mysterious lover, whom she rejects in panic and then spends her life seeking.
After the opening rejection, Kate recalls her Irish upbringing, her convent education and her professional success, before realising that she loved the man she had rejected. Searching for him, she visits the kingdom of beasts, a London restaurant, an old people’s home, the Donegal Sea, the heavenly archives, Eden and hell, where at agonising cost she saves her dying love.
For more information on Professor Finnegan’s publication click here or if you have two minutes to spare you might enjoy the trailer on Youtube
Source: Graduate
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Tracy Hamilton, HND Business and Related Studies 1982, Jordanstown
Tracy Hamilton, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mash Direct, was named by judges as this year's winner of the prestigious accolade, Outstanding Business Woman of the Year Award for 2015.
This award is the only category which is not open for nomination. Instead, it is decided by the judges and reflects an outstanding business woman who has made a significant contribution to the Northern Ireland economy and is at the forefront of her field. Tracy has a proven track record demonstrating leadership and the highest standards of business practice and is an inspirational role model for young women.
Speaking of her award, Tracy said: “Winning this award came as a hugely unexpected but very welcome surprise.
“I cannot emphasise enough the importance of an organisation such as Women in Business for inspiring and empowering women to strive for better. They host a diverse range of events throughout the year meaning that there’s always something for everyone, no matter what type or level of business. I also find them incredibly useful as a marketing platform – certainly Mash Direct can attribute a percentage of our business growth in Northern Ireland directly to my membership of Women in Business. I am both delighted and honoured to accept this Award.”
Full story can be found: Women in Business
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Adam Matthews, BSc Hons Optometry 2015, Coleraine
Recent Ulster University graduate Adam Matthews has been awarded the Naylor Prize for his excellent review of Glaucoma and Ocular Blood Flow, a subject of specific interest to optometrists. The Naylor Prize Competition, established in memory of Manchester's pioneering research optometrist and teacher, Dr Jon Naylor, encourages research training by offering a number of prizes to students from the optometric teaching institutions of the United Kingdom for the best undergraduate project reports and dissertations. Professor Neil Charman, Chair of the Naylor Prize Committee commended the high quality of all the submissions and the difficulty in selecting winners.
Adam, who is currently engaged in pre-registration employment with Vision Express in Bangor, conducted his review under the supervision of Mr Patrick Richardson, Clinic Manager at the Ulster University Optometry Clinic.
Source: Graduate
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Noeleen McIlvenna, BA Hons Humanities 1986, Coleraine
Noeleen McIlvenna is Professor of History at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and her second book on colonial America has just been published by the University of North Carolina Press.
The Short Life of Free Georgia: Class and Slavery in the Colonial South examines the first twenty years of settlement in the Georgia colony, when slavery was illegal. Telling the story from the perspective of the poor British and Irish settlers, she questions the standard narrative that all whites welcomed slavery. Instead, we see how those who had crossed the Atlantic understood hierarchy from a class perspective and opposed the push of large planters to overturn the prohibition. The new book builds on her previous examination of trans-Atlantic settlers, A Very Mutinous People: The Struggle for North Carolina, 1660-1713 (2009), which also brought an immigrant’s perspective to colonial history.
For more detail about Professor McIlvenna's book please follow this link: The Short Life of Free Georgia
Source: Graduate
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Rory Miskelly, BSc Hons Surveying 1993, Jordanstown>
Alumnus Rory Miskellly, a senior civil servant, is to move to a new role as head of the GAA's Casement Park redevelopment project in west Belfast.
He has already been involved in the project through his job at the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. He will now be working as a full-time employee of the GAA.
Mr Miskelly has vast experience when it comes to multi-million pound building projects in Belfast. He helped deliver both the Titanic Visitor Centre and the revamped Ravenhill rugby stadium.
Full story can be found: BBC
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Brian O'Hare, DPhil 1985 Coleraine, MA Education 1981, Magee
The writing career of 78-year-old graduate Dr Brian O’Hare, has followed a somewhat eclectic route. During his working life his writing was wholly academic.
After retirement, he authored two books of a spiritual nature, A Spiritual Odyssey (pub. Columba Press, Dublin) and The Miracle Ship (Crimson Press Publishing). He then had a yen to write fiction and two novels quickly followed. Fallen Men (contemporary fiction) and The Doom Murders (a murder mystery set in Belfast). Published first as ebooks, these works picked up some awards, and came to the notice of an American house, Crimson Cloak Publishing, who offered Brian a publishing contract. CCP have also commissioned a series of books featuring Brian’s fictional detective, Belfast Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan who makes his first appearance in The Doom Murders. The second in the series, The 11.05 Murders, will be published early in 2016 and a third, The Coven Murders, is currently being written.
More details about Brian O’Hare and his books can be found on his website and on Amazon
Source: Graduate
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Rebecca Watts, BA Hons Drama 2008, Magee
Rebecca has just finished filming an independent feature film with Martello Films in Suffolk, England which is due to be released in summer 2016. She has been focussing mainly on theatre and musicals since leaving the University and this is her feature film debut. Rebecca plays the role of Amanda in a horror film entitled Demons written and directed by Michael Munn with Martello Films
Demons tells the story of a writer who is unable to write, and how a story is conjured up when four girls break down and have to spend the night whilst facing their own greatest fears.
Rebecca currently lives in Essex with her husband Adam and American Bulldog Roxie.
Source: Graduate
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Ross Wilson, BA Hons Fine Art 1982, Belfast
New portraits, by alumnus Ross Wilson, of two of Northern Ireland's literary greats commissioned by the Northern Ireland Assembly have been unveiled at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.
The striking images are of Nobel laureate poet Seamus Heaney and Chronicles Of Narnia creator CS Lewis.
Seamus Heaney's widow Marie and The Rev Roy Taylor, one of Lewis's students at Cambridge University, unveiled the works at a ceremony in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings. Each bears a famous quotation from the respective writers - the words chosen having particular relevance to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Heaney's quote is "Believe that a further shore is reachable from here" while Lewis's is "There are far better things ahead than any we can leave behind".
Mrs Heaney described the portrait of her late husband as 'stunning'.
"I think it's a wonderful portrait - it shows a great deal of the benign. Seamus was a very benign person and this portrait shows that benign side to him and I am very glad of that."
Rev Taylor, from Millisle, Co Down, said it was an honour to unveil the portrait of his famous lecturer.
"He was a very good teacher and very caring for his students," he said.
"He always came in 10 minutes after the o'clock and left 10 minutes before. He said the seats were too hard for his students to sit in for an hour, so he was concerned about our needs. But in those 40 minutes we probably got more than we would have got in two hours with anybody else, he taught so well."
Image: Marie Heaney with a portrait of her husband and poet Seamus Heaney by artist Ross Wilson., Belfast. PA
Full story can be found: Belfast Telegraph
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