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12 Dec 2025
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12 Dec 2025
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NOW is not the time for risk aversion – this was the message to graduates from the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) during their conferring ceremonies in Limerick this Thursday.
President of TUS, Professor Vincent Cunnane, told graduates that they have led the way in a new era of education, that TUS will continue to lead, but that it is now time for the system to follow.
As he addressed over 3,500 graduates from six campuses, the president remarked the new graduates had seen more change over the course of their studies, than students had seen for previous generations.
He also reflected on what might have been lost during the pandemic, including “our relationship with society as a whole”.
“The skills of interaction and the experience of social mores that were denied to you for so long must be developed and redeveloped to match the incredible strength you have shown. You must not become an avatar of yourself,” he told graduates.
“These days there is a tendency towards the cult of personality that I do sincerely hope will not be heightened even further in the post-pandemic era. Communities are even more important for us all now.”
Professor Cunnane noted that Technological Universities are an innovation, potentially allowing society to get ahead of future challenges rather than just responding after they happen.
“This is not a time for risk aversion, but the Irish Higher Education system probably has a quarter of a million people in it at any given time and a system of that size can have a tendency to resist change, to absorb the perturbation of change rather than adapt to it. But remember, it is easier to innovate now than to respond later,” he commented.
Professor Cunnane concluded: “But today, you are the most important people in that system. You have led the way; your university will lead the way, and the system must follow.”
Over 3,500 TUS graduates will receive their parchments this week during nine conferring ceremonies in Athlone and Limerick.
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