Monday, September 14, 2020 - 12:00
Maynooth University conferred 2,978 graduates with a range of degrees and diplomas at undergraduate and postgraduate level in virtual ceremonies over three days.
This was a graduation like no other for the Class of 2020, who were conferred in virtual ceremonies hosted by the University in the Aula Maxima on campus, to comply with public health measures.
The ceremonies were watched by 16,200 viewers in 58 countries.
This event marked the first conferring for a new Bachelor of Civil Law (Law & Criminology), with 41 students graduating with this degree.
In total, just over 2,000 degrees and 418 diplomas were conferred. Additionally, 512 Master's degrees and 47 Doctorates were conferred across 10 virtual ceremonies.
Ceremonies were held over two days for September graduates, and on Friday, for graduates whose March ceremonies were postponed due to the pandemic lockdown.
President of Maynooth University, Professor Philip Nolan congratulated graduates as they embark on their life journey: “This has been a most unusual year. In your final year of study we were all struck by a pandemic, the likes of which we have not seen for a century. You’ve all been affected by this. Your lives and studies have been severely disrupted, and some of you have the additional strain and grief of seeing loved ones severely ill, or losing loved ones to Covid-19.
“Through all of this, you somehow found the resources and the resilience to complete your studies and it has been our privilege to confer on you today the degrees that you so richly deserve.”
“I know you all miss the joy and ceremony of a normal graduation day, coming together for a ritual and a celebration that appropriately and wonderfully marks this important transition in your life. We will have that day, as soon as we can, we will convene and celebrate together, for a second time, your wonderful achievement.”