ATU Donegal Student Achievement Awards Presentations

The Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Donegal Student Achievement Awards took place on Thursday last March 23 in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny.

The red carpet was rolled and it was an evening of style and glamour all around, as over 200 students and staff gathered to recognise and celebrate the achievements of this year’s clubs and societies at ATU Donegal.

Among the awards presented by Dr. Billy Bennett, vice-president for Academic Affairs and Registrar at ATU, were Most Outstanding Society Member, Most Improved Society, Leadership Award, Best Society and the Civic, Charity and Community Engagement Award.

In addition to society awards, there were also three highly sought-after sports awards presented. The Clubs and Societies Programme saw a significant increase in memberships and activities this year and this was reflected in the applications received for all award categories, which resulted in some tough decision-making for the selection committee in choosing the winners.

Clubs and Societies scholarships were also presented to eight student society leaders. The winners were selected from a large pool of applicants and a diverse range of clubs and societies.

Each of the winners received monetary awards in recognition of their achievements.

Paul Hannigan, head of college at ATU Donegal presented the scholarships to the winning students and complimented all clubs and societies on the significant contribution they continue to make to student life at ATU Donegal.

He also thanked all students and staff for embracing the new entity of Atlantic Technological University during the transition from LYIT to ATU and highlighted that the university looks forward to continuing to celebrate even more over the next number of years.

Niamh McLaughlin, Donegal senior ladies' GAA senior team captain and the first Donegal recipient of the LGFA All Star Senior Players ‘Player of the Year’ Award, was the guest speaker on the night.

Ms McLaughlin presented the three sports awards. She encouraged students to keep an open mind when embarking on the future and to embrace all opportunities that may come along while in the process of working towards ambitions and goals.

The award winners on the night were in the Clubs and Societies category were Best Society Poster 2023 – Animation Society, Best Society Photograph 2023 – Music and Dance Society, Award for Civic, Charity and Community Engagement 2023 – International Society, Leadership Award 2023 – Pierce Butler, Law Society, Most Outstanding Society Member 2023 – Purva Awasthi, Indian Students Society, Most Improved Society 2023 – Robotics Society and the Best Society 2023 – Badminton Society.

Scholarship Winners were Pierce Butler, Law Society, Gareth Craig, Badminton Society, David Friel, Music and Dance Society, Meriem Kebayli, Law Society, William McLucas, Law Society, Dairine Rushe, Camogie Society, Aniket Shrikant Ingole, Badminton Society and Jai Min Tan, International Society.

The sports winners were Ciara McGarvey (Ladies Gaelic), Female Sports Star Award, Fionn McClure (Men’s Soccer), Male Sports Star Award and Ladies Gaelic Football Team, Team of the Year.