Pat McArt among recipients of first ATU alumni awards

Letterkenny native and former Derry Journal editor Pat McArt has been announced as one of the first Atlantic Technological University (ATU) alumni awards.

Seen recipients will be presented with awards at three separate functions next week.

Mr McArt joined the Derry Journal in 1981 and worked for the paper until his retirement in 2014.

Living in Burt, he helped to strengthen the Journal’s presence in Inishowen and he steered the paper through some of the darkest days of the Troubles.

In late 2023, he released his memoir War, Peace and the Derry Journal,

In 2022, writing about the 250th anniversary of the inception of the Derry Journal, Mr McArt said that the Troubles ‘did totally over-shadow my entire editorship’.

Last year, the then Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Sandra Duffy, accorded Mr McArt with a civic reception, in honour of his contribution and commitment to journalism in the city and district.

ATU say that the awards will celebrate “graduates who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation, and positive impact in their professions and communities”.

A spokesperson said: “These awards are an opportunity for the university to honour alumni whose exceptional skills, leadership, and impact have inspired our students, staff, and wider community.  Alumni Awards are presented to alumni who have made outstanding contributions in the following areas aligned to our faculties: Business; Design, Education & Humanities; Engineering & Computing; Science & Health.

Seven graduates will be recognised at the university’s Spring Conferring Ceremonies, taking place across ATU campuses in Donegal, Sligo and Galway. 

The 2025 ATU Alumni Award recipients are: 

Pat McArt, Journalist, Author, Former Editor, Derry Journal – Alumni Award in Design, Education & Humanities 

Breege Conroy Walsh, Founder & Managing Director, BWC MedTech Consulting and Former VP of Global Quality Engineering and Services at Medtronic Inc. – Alumni Award in Science & Health 

Dr Shane Loughlin, Founder and President, ESE Academy – Alumni Award in Engineering & Computing 

Enda Mc Guane, Head of Asset Management, Land Development Agency – Alumni Award in Business 

Evelyn O’Toole, Founder & CEO, Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS) – Alumni Award in Science & Health 

Lauren Cadden, Record-breaking Irish Sprinter and Paris 2024 Olympian – President’s Alumni Award 

Lisa Lynch, Senior Manager R&D, Boston Scientific - Alumni Award in Science & Health 

Dr Orla Flynn, President of ATU, said: “These outstanding alumni represent the very best of Atlantic Technological University. Their achievements are a source of immense pride for our university community, and they inspire our current students to dream bigger and reach higher. These are our very first Alumni Awards, and we look forward to celebrating many more incredible graduates in the years to come.” 

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The Alumni Awards will be presented to the recipients during ATU’s Spring Conferring Ceremonies, held across the university’s campuses on April 29 April (Letterkenny), April 30 (Sligo). and May 1 (Galway City).