30.11.2016
The National College of Art and Design held its annual conferring ceremonies on Monday 21 November in the O’Reilly Hall at University College Dublin.
The NUI Registrar, Dr Attracta Halpin, conferred over 500 students with Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees and other NUI qualifications during two the two conferring ceremonies. NCAD, now a recognised college of UCD, is the only art and design college in the Republic of Ireland to be awarded university degrees.
Dr Halpin congratulated the graduates on their achievements on behalf of the National University of Ireland and UCD. She went on to say, ‘with the creative talents and skills you have developed in NCAD you have the potential to contribute to the visual culture of this country or wherever you go, for the overall advancement of society.’
Speaking of 1916 Centenary commemorations, Dr Halpin also made note of how ‘the arts and design have played a major part in the commemoration of the Rising and also more generally during this Decade of Commemorations’, allowing for us, she said, ‘to contextualise the period and provide insights into the experiences and motivations of that extraordinary generation.’
One of the longest established higher education institutions in the country, the National College of Art and Design has been part of the National University of Ireland since 1999, firstly as a recognised college of NUI and more recently in an academic alliance with UCD. The Registrar commented on this alliance, saying that it has been ‘of considerable mutual benefit, enabling the development of joint programmes, joint research projects and interdisciplinary work.’ She finished by saying that she envisioned ‘over time the benefits of the alliance will grow further.’
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