WIT Press Release
Title: WIT Alumni Association launches in London
Release date: Thu, May 15, 2008
The association bringing together Waterford Institute of Technology alumni in Ireland and overseas has established a new London chapter. The launch took place in the Embassy of Ireland and was hosted by the Irish Ambassador, Mr David Cooney, last evening (May 14).
Joining equivalents in Dublin and New York, the Alumni Association's London chapter will bring together many of those who have graduated from the Institute in the almost 39 years since it welcomed its first students in September 1969.
Michael Walsh, Chairman of the newly-formed London chapter and a graduate from the School of Business at Waterford said, "While the days of forced economic migration from Ireland to the UK and US are thankfully long behind us, there is a substantial body of Waterford Institute of Technology alumni working in London with a particular concentration in the financial services sector which is still such a large part of the economic life of this city.
"My London chapter colleagues and I have a shared ambition to help advance the Institute at which we had such a positive experience and from which we continue to draw great benefit in our careers. The Institute’s leadership is rightly proud of what has been achieved there to date but also have a real appetite to further extend its reach and we are, of course, fully supportive of the drive towards re-designation as University of the South East.
"In practical terms, our chapter will meet regularly at various locations in London and allow members to come together to advance Waterford’s cause as well as to network with others who have had the Waterford student experience and now live and work in the UK."
Redmond O’Donoghue, Chairman, Waterford Institute of Technology told the London launch, "Graduates of the Institute now operate at the highest levels of companies and public bodies throughout Europe as well as in Asia and north America. These individuals are extremely well positioned to act as influencers on behalf of their ‘Alma Mater’ and it is vital that our structures empower them to do so.
"While there is clearly a social dimension, bringing together our alumni and friends has one overriding aim from our perspective - to promote the welfare of the Waterford Institute by fostering goodwill among key audiences by influencing the influencers. The voice of the Institute's alumnus is especially important and no group within the Institute can be as effective as our alumni and friends in reaching public officials and key individuals in the private sector and promoting the Institute’s agenda and ambitions."
According to Prof Kieran R Byrne, Director, Waterford Institute of Technology, many thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate students have studied at the Institute. "The knowledge, achievements and expertise of Waterford graduates have been recognised in Ireland and overseas across fields of endeavour as diverse as politics, finance, social work, construction, management, economics, hospitality, the arts, law and engineering.
"The Alumni Association chapter launched at the Irish Embassy in London last evening will allow those now based in Britain to keep in touch with fellow alumni as well as to stay informed about what’s happening at the Institute where they studied. More formal mechanisms are also being developed whereby the alumni can help to shape the Institute’s future and the energy and drive apparent among our London-based alumni is hugely encouraging in this regard."
· Find out more about the Waterford Institute of Technology Alumni Association by emailing alumni@wit.ie or calling +353 (0)51 302192.
