UCD Alumni Interviews

Get to know the people behind the degrees through alumni interviews. Each conversation offers career insights, personal reflections and inspiring stories that showcase the diverse paths, passions, and perspectives of UCD graduates around the world.

Stories from New Alumni

UCD alumna Hannah Costello at her graduation in 2025.

Class of 2025

Celebrate the inspiring journeys of the Class of 2025 and the impact UCD has had on their lives. From excelling academically and immersing themselves in campus life, to finding their voice in student media, embracing global opportunities, stepping confidently into the next stage of their careers and more!

UCD alumnus Ibrahim Halawa at his graduation in 2024.

Class of 2024

Explore the unique stories of the Class of 2024 and delve into their UCD experiences. From coming back as mature students after career changes, breaking down barriers and finding their voice, to discovering their passions and more!

UCD alumnus Israel Olatunde at his graduation in 2023.

Class of 2023

Discover stories of the Class of 2023 and find out what their UCD experience was like. From their Erasmus experiences studying abroad, achieving sporting successes, joining UCD Societies, to networking to advance their careers and more!

UCD alumna Lara Gillespie at her graduation in 2022.

Class of 2022

Get to know the graduates of the Class of 2022. Read their stories of transitioning to studying online during the Covid-19 pandemic, helping to welcome refugees from Ukraine to campus, overcoming personal challenges, training to compete in elite cycling competitions and more!

Three UCD alumnae throwing their graduation caps in the air.

Discover more stories from new alumni

University College Dublin's newest alumni told us about their time at UCD and what they're looking forward to after graduation.

Alumni Interviews

Kelly Younger

Kelly Younger is a screenwriter, TV writer, playwright, story consultant, and Emmy-nominated producer. He is currently writing on The Muppet Show. Credits include Candy Cane Lane, starring Eddie Murphy, Muppets Haunted Mansion, Muppets Now, and Kermit's commencement address to the University of Maryland. Kelly earned his MA and PhD in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at UCD in 1999.

Emmet O'Reilly

Emmet O'Reilly is an accountant by profession and has held a number of leadership roles in the property and finance sector. He is also the author of two books, 'Miss, Say Goodbye to Your Daughter' and 'This Is Ourselves, Under Pressure'. Emmet graduated from UCD with a BComm in 1993 and a Masters in Accounting in 1994, both with first-class honours.

Adiba Jaigirdar

Award-winning author Adiba Jaigirdar was born in Bangladesh and has lived in Ireland since the age of 10. Her debut novel, The Henna Wars, is listed in Time magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. Adiba graduated from UCD in 2014 with a BA in English and History, and she also holds an MA in Postcolonial Studies.

Bori Akinola

Elite sprinter Bori Akinola graduated with a BSc in Computer Science in 2024. An alumnus of UCD Ad Astra Academy, he won his first senior title in the National Indoor Championships in February 2025, storming to victory in the men's 60m final.

Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed | Her Sport

UCD commerce graduates Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed founded the social enterprise Her Sport in 2020. They are on a mission to tackle the systemic barriers that discourage women and girls from participating in sport, and to create a world where every girl knows she belongs in sport.

Mary Doran

Mary Doran graduated with a degree in architecture in 1974. A class reunion in November 2024 to celebrate 50 years since graduation prompted a trip down memory lane – in Mary's case, a path forged by courage, curiosity and an independent spirit.

Tarisai May Chidawanyika

Tarisai May Chidawanyika is the founder of the organisation Diversity in Law and the first Zimbabwean to be registered as a solicitor in Ireland. She graduated from UCD with a degree in European Law in 2016.

Colm Lysaght

Colm Lysaght is an experienced strategist and a creative, charismatic leader. After graduating from UCD with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, he moved to California and built a successful career in marketing and strategy at Fortune 500 companies.

Megan O’Neill

Irish singer-songwriter Megan O'Neill has released three EPs and two albums to date, with new music currently in production. Megan's music has been featured on major TV shows such as Netflix’s Firefly Lane and ABC’s Nashville, and she has performed twice on RTE's Late Late Show....

Moayed Hamza and Mark O'Neill sitting on a couch posing for a photo.

Mark O'Neill and Moayed Hamza | HAON

Having worked closely together in the biotech space for a number of years, UCD alumnus and entrepreneur Mark O'Neill and Dr Moayed Hamza are now on a mission to build an Irish-headquartered, global pharma company with significant impact, HAON.

Romy Lynch

Romy Lynch is a co-founder of the startup Unflow. Launched in 2019, Unflow’s aim is to make mobile app development smooth and easy using low-code templates for screens, new features and updates. She graduated from UCD in 2017 with a BE, specialising in Mechanical Engineering.

Chiamaka Onyinyechukwu Ofojimba

Chiamaka Onyinyechukwu Ofojimba is a first-class honours graduate of BSc in Microbiology, who graduated third in her class. She also has a Masters Degree in Biotechnology and is passionate and committed to the world of science and scientific breakthroughs...

David E Freeman | Florida

David E Freeman is a class of 1972 MVB graduate. He specialises in equine surgery and has a worldwide reputation in his field with countless awards that demonstrate the global impacts of his research. David is the first UCD graduate to become board-certified in...

Simon Steel | California

Simon Steel received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from UCD, studying the star formation histories of blue compact dwarf galaxies. He is currently Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute located...

Peter W Halligan | Wales

Professor Peter William Halligan is an internationally renowned psychologist and neuroscientist whose research covers a range of different neurological and psychiatric conditions including attentional disorders, motor conversion, the nature of beliefs and...

Thalia Gonzalez Kane

MA in Theatre Practice graduate Thalia Gonzalez Kane is a writer, actress and theatre performer. She is a councillor for ACTRA Toronto and ACTRA National, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, as well as the co-chair for...

Disha Bose

Disha Bose graduated with a Masters in Creative Writing from UCD. She has been shortlisted for the DNA Short Story Prize, and her poetry and short stories have appeared in The Galway Review, Cultured Vultures and Headstuff. Her travel pieces have appeared...

Nicholas Shadowen | Texas

Nicholas Shadowen attended UCD Sutherland School of Law in 2017 as part of UCD’s International Exchange Programme with the University of Miami School of Law. Nicholas is a nationally recognised attorney, pioneering new lawsuits in gun trafficking litigation and other areas of international human rights litigation.

Akane Kagawa | Japan

Akane Kagawa graduated from Tokyo’s Waseda University with a politics major. Following graduation she worked for the Japanese Rugby Union, starting out as an accounting assistant. She went on to become the team manager for the Japanese women’s rugby 7’s...

Javier Gonzalez Garcia | Spain

Javier Gonzalez Garcia has a Masters in European Economics, Public Affairs and Law. He has lived and worked all over the world and currently lives in Madrid with his family.

Khaing Min Thant | Myanmar

Khaing Min Thant worked as a Programme Officer for the Irish NGO, Trócaire in Myanmar for over seven years. He is currently Programme Management Senior Officer with UNOPS, a non-profit organization that helps the UN and its partners provide humanitarian...

Sean Callanan | The Caribbean

Class of 1987 MVB graduate and Dean of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) Sean Callanan, MVB, CertVR, MRCVS, PhD, FRCPath, DiplECVP was recently selected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

Dr Dorothy Conaghan | Ireland

Dorothy Conaghan’s career has spanned over 30 years, including time as a French and mathematics secondary school teacher, and a music lecturer at TU Dublin. She is also a violinist and conductor. She holds a PhD in Social Justice (2020), an MSc in Equality Studies (2015), and...

Patricia Munatsi | Zimbabwe

Patricia Munatsi graduated from UCD Sutherland School of Law in 2020 with an LLM in International Human Rights Law. She is the Policy Lead for the Irish Network Against Racism. She is also a researcher, speaker, writer, gender activist, equality, diversity & inclusion...

Graham Butler Breen | London

RADA member Graham Butler Breen is an actor and theatre maker based in London. He is the co-founder of the new-wave theatre company 'Luna Collective' which has produced a number of original works and an adaptation of the Frank McGuinness short story...

Radwa Khorshid | Egypt

Radwa Khorshid has an MA in Media & International Conflict, graduating in 2014. She currently works as the Director of Sales and Customer Success for BasharSoft, in her home country of Egypt.

Emre Akyüz | Turkey

Emre Akyüz, originally from Turkey, has a BA in Economics and an MA in Environmental Sciences from Hacettepe & Ankara University respectively. He graduated from UCD with an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development.

Fiona Byrne Ryan | Michigan

Fiona is a landscape architecture graduate who now lives in the US. In 2021, Fiona and her husband sold their home and business to live a more sustainable life. They started an online community called Truthfully Living. The couple, their two-year-old son and their dog have...

Dilan Jayasekara | Sri Lanka

IT consultant and tech entrepreneur Dilan Jayasekara has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from UCD’s Colombo Campus in Sri Lanka. He relocated to Australia and has risen rapidly in his industry. In December 2021 he was nominated at the...

Naima Chaudhry | Ireland

To celebrate International Women’s Day, the theme of which is “breaking the bias”, we feature an alumna who has overcome obstacles to obtain an education that has empowered her to become the woman she is today. We are honoured to have Naima Chaudhry as...

Kilian Mallon | California

Kilian Mallon is a Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Classics at Stanford University, California. A Dublin native, he completed a BA in Archaeology and Greek & Roman Civilisation in 2008 and an MA in Classics in 2009 at UCD. He has worked on...

Andrew McLaughlin | Melbourne

Andrew (AJ) is a joint Economics and Information Social Computing graduate and currently works as a content strategist in Melbourne, Australia.

Mark Langtry | Ireland

Mark is the Head of Science and Sport at Explorium - Ireland's National Science Centre. A theoretical physicist by background, Mark is an educator, TV presenter, broadcaster, science communicator, former professional footballer and an award-winning educational...

Nóirín Mosley | Melbourne

Nóirín Mosley (Halligan) was born in Dublin, Ireland. Having worked in the insurance and disability sectors in Ireland, she took off for sunny Thailand to work with Sony Asia in product marketing in 1996. From there, she made her way to Melbourne Australia via Papua...

Dr Conor Delaney | Florida

Dr Conor Delaney, MD, PhD is a colorectal surgeon and President and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Florida Region, he lives in south-east Florida with his family.

Dr Helen McBreen | Ireland

Dr Helen McBreen is a partner at Atlantic Bridge, a global growth equity technology firm that announced the launch of the University Bridge Fund II in May. This fund is focused on scaling and commercialising research from Ireland’s third-level institutions, including UCD...

Dinuka Tharangi Jayaweera | Sri Lanka

Dinuka Tharangi Jayaweera is a Business Analyst at Sysco LABS Sri Lanka and Social Media Chair at IEEE Young Professionals She graduated from UCD with a BSc in Computer Science in 2017 and is based in Sri Lanka.

Barra Fitzgibbon | United Kingdom

Barra Fitzgibbon is a UCD Arts graduate who went on to study law and become a solicitor. While working as a solicitor he discovered his passion lay in media and communications and he became a Channel 4 broadcaster. Barra has also worked as a voiceover...

Nicole Li | China

Yaxin (Nicole) Li is a UCD Smurfit Business School graduate. Following the completion of her Master’s Degree in Marketing in 2019 she moved to Shanghai to work for Enterprise Ireland. She still misses the comparative peace and quiet of Ireland every day.

Niall Norton | Ireland

Niall Norton is a UCD BComm graduate. He has a very successful career in the telecommunications sector and is CEO of Openet (an Amdocs Company), a world leading Digital BSS company that provides data management solutions. When Niall is not working, he enjoys...

Kara Kelly | Ireland

Kara Kelly is a Business and Law (BBL) graduate from the Sutherland School of Law. She has spent over 8 years working in television production and currently works as a Freelance Assistant Producer & Reporter with RTÉ Sport, Ireland’s national broadcaster.

Michael Coleman | Finland

2020 marked the 50th anniversary of Michael Coleman’s graduation from UCD with a BA in History. Michael retired from a successful academic career at The University of Jyväskylä in Finland in 2010. He is the author of the book “American Indians, the Irish, and...

Kristof Molnar-Tatai | Hungary

Kristof Molnar-Tatai arrived as an Erasmus student in autumn 2009. Although he studied Philosophy, he has broken into the tech industry as a coder whilst using his humanities background. You can currently find him at the Hungarian development centre of Oracle.

Anne Harris | France

Anne Harris, née Hennon, was born in Dublin in 1950, educated at Manor House School in Raheny, University College Dublin and Harvard Kennedy School. She worked in a senior position at the European Parliament in Luxembourg for 24 years before returning...

Captain Dick Twomey | Mauritius

Born in Wales to Irish parents, Captain Twomey spent two years in the Royal Air Force before studying Economics at UCD. In this interview, he discusses setting up a small airline in Berlin during the Cold War, challenges facing the aviation industry during...

Lucinda Kelly | Ireland

Bringing together an entrepreneurial spirit, family background in retail and property, and corporate experience in mobile, Lucinda Kelly set up Popertee, an Airbnb-style service that matches vacant commercial spaces with businesses looking for a quick and low...

Dr Chris Murray | Australia

Dr Chris Murray teaches literature at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is also the author of Crippled Immortals, a book about his experiences studying a Zen martial-arts Masters in Asia. In previous years, Murray was in a rock band that recorded professionally...

Dr Julie Morrissy | Ireland

Dr Julie Morrissy is the first person to hold the Newman Fellowship in Creativity at UCD. Julie is based in the UCD School of English, Drama and Film, and originally studied Law as an undergraduate.

Dr Gráinne Healy | Ireland

Dr Gráinne Healy is a successful chairperson, facilitator, trainer and social inclusion project manager. A leader in the social justice sector, her expertise was proven in 2015 as co-director of the Yes Equality campaign. Healy is the editor of Crossing the Threshold...

Colin Keogh | Ireland

Colin Keogh is an award-winning engineer who specialises in 3D printing and innovation. Colin is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Rapid Foundation – a charity project with the goal of “Putting technology in the hands of the people who need it”. He has been listed...

Dr Linda Mulligan | Ireland

Acting State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan was inspired to study medicine, and forensic pathology in particular, due to her fascination with detective TV shows and novels. In this Alumni Q&A, Linda discusses how she likes to unwind, a typical day as a pathologist and reminisces about her time as a medical student in UCD.

Daragh Fleming | Ireland

Daragh Fleming is a 25-year-old UCD alumnus from County Cork. While studying for his Masters in Linguistics, he played basketball for UCD. Daragh has recently released a book of short stories called The Book of Revelations. He currently works for WeLocalize, a global transformations partner as a music curator.

Shaunagh Connaire | New York

Shaunagh Connaire is an award-winning Irish filmmaker and journalist. After graduating with a Commerce degree in UCD and working as an accountant at KPMG, Shaunagh completed a Masters in journalism in London. Since then, she has worked for the BBC, Channel 4 and is currently the US Editor of Alpha Grid, a media...

Gerald Fleming | Ireland

Gerald Fleming is an experienced broadcaster and meteorologist. Gerald was Head of Forecast with Met Eireann for almost ten years and is a familiar face as leader of the RTÉ Weather Team for many years before that. He has been Chair of the Public Weather Service...

Donn Holohan and Elspeth Lee | Ireland

What was your experience like studying at Richview? Neither of us had family backgrounds in architecture, but we were both drawn to it as a profession – Donn had an affinity for making and studied at Letterfrack, in the Furniture Design and Manufacturing school...

John Carey | Ireland

I wanted a Degree that gave me the most options… My father passed away when I was very young, and my sister Renee and I were incredibly close. As siblings we encouraged each other and helped drive each other’s careers. During my Leaving Cert year, Renee, who is...

Prof Mark Richardson | Ireland

Why UCD Engineering? My very first introduction to UCD was in the 1960’s when my friends and I were just old enough to ride bicycles. We would cycle around Belfield, which at the time was just a patchwork quilt of fields, each field bounded by mature trees and hedges...

Ciarán Cuffe | Ireland

Why did you choose to study architecture? You could say that I come from a family of Architects. I am one of eight-children and three of us went on to study Architecture in UCD.It doesn’t stop there! My own father Luan was also a UCD Architectural graduate...

UCD Alumni

Ardmore House, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

T: +353 1 716 1447 | E: alumni@ucd.ie

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