Dr Denis Brosnan is awarded 
2003 Charter Day Medal

The recipient of the UCD Charter Day Medal 2003 is Dr Denis Brosnan, formerly Managing Director of Kerry Group PLC and current Chair of the Board of Management of the Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research. 

Dr Brosnan was presented with the award by the President, Dr Cosgrove, at the sixth annual Charter Day Dinner in O’Reilly Hall on 5 December. 

The 330 guests included His Eminence Cardinal Connell, Archbishop of Dublin; HE Mr Sha Hailin, The Ambassador  of China;The Most Reverend Dr John R W Neill, Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough; His Excellency Dr John Herron, The Ambassador of Australia; The Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin; and Dr Garret FitzGerald, Chancellor, National University of Ireland. 

The Charter Day Medal is awarded to people who have made a major contribution to the country and the University. 

In introducing this year’s recipient, the President, Dr Cosgrove said Dr Brosnan ‘adds to the stature of the University by his association with us’. 

The President recalled that in his first strategic plan, Dr Brosnan defined his objective as ‘the creation of a vibrant racing industry with racecourse facilities at our major tracks on a par with the best elsewhere and with all tracks upgraded to an acceptable standard’. 

“Success in this, combined with increased prize-money and sponsorship, made it realistic for the second strategic plan in February last to have as a clear mission statement - ‘to develop and promote Ireland as a world centre of excellence for horseracing and breeding’. 

“In following the debates that surrounded the creation of Horse Racing Ireland to replace the Irish Horseracing Authority, it struck me that there are similarities between that industry and a university - the real challenge is to get all the component parts pulling in the same direction!” 

He said that one of Denis Brosnan’s essentials was the achievement of excellence, whether in business, in horseracing or in the University. “And it is an excellence that must be measured not by national but by world standards,” he added. 

Dr Brosnan said he had taken on the role of Chairman of the Conway Institute in early 2002 ‘from the background of the challenges of over 30 years’. 

He had considered that the role could be ‘the last contribution I would like to be involved in with Irish society or the betterment of the country we live in’. Dr Denis Brosnan is awarded 2003.