A Message From Dr. John Kelly

Message to all Graduates of the National University of Ireland

Tina Lowe will make a great impact as your representative of the graduates of the National University of Ireland in Seanad Eireann and I urge all graduates to give her your support.

Since graduating with a Master’s degree in 2002, Tina has worked with the national association for students with disabilities, AHEAD, and has made a major contribution to its various programmes promoting the greater participation of students with disabilities in Irish higher education. Whilst the number of students with disabilities has risen dramatically in our Universities and Institutions of Technology in recent years, the graduates are not getting the jobs despite the Celtic Tiger, and it is in this area, as the Director of GET~AHEAD, the National Forum for Graduates with Disabilities, that Tina is making a major contribution. She has endless energy and enthusiasm and there is no section of the Irish employment market has escaped Tina’s overtures in assisting their employment in positions which match their educational background and abilities. It is not easy as it requires a sea change in Irish attitudes towards the employment of persons with disabilities, but Tina has a tenacity of purpose and a strong voice which knows no negatives. She has organized events right across the country , bringing together a mix from the business communities, from the disability organizations and of course the graduates themselves, in brain storming discussions on this difficult situation and establishing a range of employment initiatives which have been a great success.

But it should be appreciated that Tina’s interests extend beyond those of the disabled and in the Seanad, she will be a powerful advocate for all the marginalized sectors of our Irish society.

There can be no finer voice for the graduates of the National University than Tina Lowe and I recommend her to you without any qualification.

Dr. John Kelly
Professor Emeritus and former Registrar
University College Dublin.