Reunions

Industrial Design Department 25 Year Graduate Reunion

A 25 year reunion of the NCAD alumni took place in Limerick on the 6th of October this year and was a great success, with 60 graduates including staff attending this first ever NCAD alumni celebration. Great appreciation goes to the organiser, David Roberts a graduate of 1981 and to the assistance of the recently created NCAD Graduate Network.

There was a good attendance from graduates down through the years, with a large turn out from the early years. It was particularly satisfying that the full class of 1980, the first year of the Bachelors Degree were all present.

The event took place in the Castletroy Park Hotel and the evening commenced with a reception at 7.00pm followed by a dinner at 8.00pm. Entertaining speeches were provided by Peter Hogart, Michael Ozmin, Paul Fortune and Sean McNulty. The formal proceedings concluded with a presentation of a commemorative trophy to staff members present.

Since the course began, 456 students have graduated in industrial design from NCAD and in a recent survey it was revealed that nearly half are employed as 'traditional' industrial designers and nearly half are employed in other design related activity. It is a great credit to the graduates that they can apply themselves in a wide variety of job opportunities.

Collaboration between educational institutions is fashionable now but it is easy to forget that this course was a collaborative venture right from the start, between the University of Limerick, or the National Institute for Higher Education as it was then known. Indeed, it was one of the first collaborative courses of any sort in Ireland. Although now running separate courses, the institutions still retain many links. The evolution of both courses emphasises their unique strengths for the overall benefit of Industrial Design and Product Design in Ireland.

The Industrial Design Department sees this reunion as the first of many and would encourage all graduates to become active in the NCAD Graduate Network. The Industrial Design Community is an important voice and its influence for the betterment of our social and visual environment can not be underestimated.

Industrial Design graduates are the standard bearers of the profession and their personal standing is reflected and affected by the current quality of the College. For its part, the college is determined to enhance pride in its graduate’s alma mater. It committed to retaining for NCAD a permanent place - for decades to come - as the nation's leading art and design college.

First year of Graduation 1980
Robert Alexander, Sean McNulty, Dennis O Connell, Jackie Kingston, Peter Curran, Marto Hoary, Eugene O Sullivan

Gearóid Ó Conchubhair 1982, Dennis O Connell 1980, Philip Kenny 1981

Philip Phelan 1991, Michael O Leary 1996, Lisa Woods and partner 1996

Fiona Murphy, David Plunket, Colin Deevy, Louise Kiernan 1990