On Friday 27 October in Letterkenny and Wednesday 1 November in Killybegs, almost 1,200 students from all over Ireland and internationally will graduate from Letterkenny IT (LYIT). A select group of students will be honoured for their achievements and commitment to a Fire Safety Engineering programme.
The wonderful thing about the events is the mix of graduates conferring – from regular CAO applicant to mature student, from domestic to international students, from people completing studies on a full-time or part-time basis; all completing a plethora of different courses, at different levels. Regardless of their situation, this is a great achievement for any individual.
Anyone who has gone through third-level education will know the sacrifices that has to be made to get over the finish line.
One group of graduating part-time students know this all too well. A Dublin Fire Brigade vehicle was a regular sight in the LYIT car park over the last two years, yet no emergency had taken place.
Every Thursday for three semesters a group of seven students travelled from Dublin (one from Gorey, Co. Wexford) to attend lectures for the Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Fire Safety Engineering. Their aim was to achieve an honours degree, following on from having completed a part-time Bachelor of Engineering Tech (Ord) in Fire Safety Engineering at DIT.
Dublin Fire Brigade vehicle at LYIT as we say farewell to one crew of part-time Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Fire Safety Engineering students and get ready to welcome another. From L-R – Billy Bennett (Registrar), Dr Paddy Lennon (Lecturer), Alan Judge (Iarnród Eireann), Paul Furlong (Dublin Airport Fire Brigade), Grant Masterson (Wexford County Council/ MSA), Anne Boner (Head of Department of Civil Engineering and Construction), Cathal Ryan (D.F.B.), Paul Keyes (D.F.B.), Rory McShane (Lecturer), Denis McFadden (Head of School of Engineering), Paul McGrath (D.F.B.), James Mulholland (D.F.B).
The part-time mature students were all in employment in fire services – with Dublin Fire Brigade, Dublin Airport Authority, Iarnród Éireann and Wexford County Council. Such was their routine or enthusiasm that on occasions they reportedly were in class before any of the local students got there at 9.30 am!
Cathal Ryan, one of the graduates commented, “I was part of a group of six fire fighters & one Iarnród Éireannn staff member that have recently achieved our Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Fire Safety Engineering at LYIT.
“We considered ourselves very lucky to have received an offer of a place on this programme but it was not without its difficulties. The average travel time from Dublin was a seven-hour round trip every Thursday beginning at 4.30am with others having to travel further, before you even sat down to a lecture!
“The incredible professionalism and excellent tutors in LYIT made this trip a whole lot easier. Our time spent in LYIT was invaluable with our development as fire engineers and I would like to give a special mention to Rory McShane, Paddy Lennon & Anne Bonner for their support and assistance throughout this programme.
“I’d also like to thank the chief fire officer of Dublin Fire Brigade, Mr Patrick Flemming for his continued support and assistance throughout this whole programme.
“Finally, I’d personally like to congratulate and compliment my fellow students on their amazing achievement, we’ve been through so much together since 2011 in DIT, marriages, babies born and loved ones lost, I’d like to wish them all the very best in their future endeavours. Well done guys,” Cathal said.
Speaking about this particular group of students and the programme, Anne Boner (Head of Department of Civil Engineering and Construction) outlines, “The BSc (Hons) in Fire Safety Engineering has been running at LYIT since 2001. Typically one or two students each year choose to complete the one year add-on over two years and normally this involves attending classes two days a week.
“When approached by the DIT ordinary degree graduates, we took into consideration what they had already covered and came up with a programme which meant they could complete their honours degree in 20 months attending one day a week during term time.
“It was a tall ask for students to complete an eight hour day on top of travelling to and from Letterkenny but, with work and family commitments precluding a longer stay, the group jumped at the chance to come to Letterkenny and judging on the results achieved, they gave it their all and it was well worth their effort!”
As this specific group of fire safety graduates look forward to Friday’s graduation ceremony and say goodbye to Letterkenny, eight further students (from Dublin and Galway) have already taken their place participating in this demanding day-release routine.
LYIT looks forward to welcoming all graduates back to both the Letterkenny and Killybegs campuses for graduation and encourages anyone who has any wish to begin/return to education to get in touch or start their search on www.lyit.ie – who knows you could be part of the class of 2020.
