President Mary McAleese Honors Tenth Class of Mitchell Scholars

Alliance Announces Plans to Honor the Achievements of Irish Women

Irish President Mary McAleese was the guest of honor at a reception celebrating the tenth class of George J. Mitchell Scholars at Farmleigh in Dublin.

Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance, welcomed guests and thanked the members of the Oireachtas for the recent passage of legislation that will see the Irish Government contribute to a permanent endowment for the scholarship program. Ms. Vargo and Brigid McManus, the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science, have signed the agreement bringing this into force.

In her remarks to the Scholars and the guests in attendance, President McAleese celebrated not only this year’s twelve graduates but the more than 100 who have preceded them, "all of whom have flown the flag of the George Mitchell Scholarships and who have become unofficial ambassadors for the United States in Ireland and ambassadors for Ireland in the United States."

She noted the importance of the future of the relationship relying not on nostalgia but on contemporary understanding: "You are not the same people you were when you took the plane to Ireland and scattered after orientation to your respective universities. You have each gleaned utterly unique and different experiences and insights, made friends and discoveries enough to enrich a lifetime. You know Ireland better and you know yourselves better for being alone in an unknown place…. We know that the links you have formed with Ireland will make you stronger, the US stronger and Ireland stronger."

The President recognized "the genius and patience" of Senator George Mitchell, for whom the scholarship program is named. She also spoke warmly of Ms. Vargo’s former boss, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, "who worked to his last breath on behalf of the poor, the marginalized and on behalf of Ireland," applauding the Scholars who are carrying out his commitment of "building a world where all are included and cared for and none overlooked or neglected."

Ms. Vargo referred to the recent Irish Times supplement, which highlighted 40 years of change in the lives of Irish women. The supplement included many 'firsts,' such as Mary Robinson becoming the first female President of Ireland. President McAleese was the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen’s University and the first President of Ireland from Northern Ireland. Ms. Vargo announced that the US-Ireland Alliance will begin making plans to host an event that will honor several such women and their accomplishments. Further details will be announced at a later date.

As the Mitchell Scholars were called forward by scholarships director Jennie LaMonte, the new Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dublin, John Hennessey-Niland, presented them with their class rings, an annual gift from Cross Atlantic Capital Partners.

Among the 100 guests in attendance were former Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald; several members of the Oireacthas including Ruairi Quinn, Seymour Crawford, Senator Fidelma Healy-Eames; as well as NUI Maynooth President John Hughes, and Brian MacCraith who will next month become the President of Dublin City University.

The reception commenced a week of activities for the Scholars, which will continue in Limerick with a visit to Glenstal Abbey and dinner at the home of Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, one of Ireland’s best-known musicians and founder of the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick.

The Scholars will then travel to Listowel for Writers’ Week at the invitation of Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan, who was also present at Farmleigh. They will also be the guests of the Knight of Glin, at Glin Castle.

The President concluded by calling the Mitchell Scholars "cherished honorary members of our global Irish family." Noting that they are already "people who take responsibility, who do not wait for others to do things. You intend to be the next generation of problem-solvers in a world with many problems. I hope that your time here in Ireland has honed your skills, sharpened your focus and given you even braver hearts. William Butler Yeats once said that "education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire” and I hope the fire lit inside each one of you will burn brightly on both sides of the Atlantic for many years to come."

Twelve Mitchell Scholars pursued post-graduate degrees in Ireland and Northern Ireland this year. At the ceremony, their plans for the coming year were also announced:

Matt Baum (neuroscience/Trinity) will next take a doctorate in NeuroEthics at Oxford before enrolling in an MD/PhD program at Harvard and MIT.

Jonathan Brestoff (public health/University College Cork) will resume his work in a joint MD/PhD program as an NIH Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Genetics and Gene Regulation.

Shane Colvin (music therapy/University of Limerick) will remain in Limerick next year to complete his two-year program before attending medical school.

Breanna Detwiler (environmental management/Queen's) will become an Autry Fellow with MDC, an organization dedicated to poverty eradication and advancing equality in the American South.

Rebekah Emanuel (cross border program in human rights law/Galway and Queen’s) will join the Washington office of McKinsey & Company.

Christina Faust (immunology and global health/Maynooth) will begin the Ph.D. program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton.

Neil Ferron (playwriting/Trinity) will spend the summer working at the Abbey Theatre before beginning an internship in the Literary Department of the Seattle Rep.

Adam Harbison (rural development/Queen's) plans to work in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill.

Lauren Parnell Marino (gender, globalization and development/NUI Galway) will relocate to Washington, DC to either work for an NGO or on Capitol Hill.

Alec Schierenbeck (international relations/University College Dublin) plans to work in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill.

Sarang Shah (mathematical physics/Trinity) will continue his study of maths at Cambridge.

Michael Solis (international human rights law/NUI Galway) will spend the summer interning with Fighting Words, Roddy Doyle’s creative writing center, before attending Columbia University Law School.