Mother and daughter Noreen and Roisin Maguire graduate together at ATU Donegal

Noreen and Roisin Maguire from Ardara graduated from the Atlantic Technological University of Letterkenny.

The mother and daughter were in their gowns last week with a level 8 Bachelor of Business (Honours), having completed the course on a part-time basis over three years. 

“It was brilliant, at times there was a lot of pressure but we are delighted with the overall experience,” mum Noreen, who works as a secretary at Gaelscoil na gCeithre Máistrí in Donegal Town, said.

“After my Leaving Certificate in 1985, I began working. Then in 2005, I went back to education for a while and completed a level 6 business administration and computer applications course with the ETB (Education and Training Board ) which opened up doors for me. I was able to work locally and I worked in administrative roles.

“That generated my interest in going back to education and life-long learning and I always had it at the back of my mind to do a degree course at some point. But I suppose with life and responsibilities it didn’t feel right until my children began third-level education and I could see how interesting the courses were.

Daughter Roisin, now employed as an advisor/cashier at the Bank of Ireland in Killybegs, began the Bachelor of Business first and soon told her mother about the course and what it entailed. 

“I asked Roisin would she mind if I applied to join the class and she said that was okay so I made an inquiry with ATU and they accepted and gave me a place on the course,” Noreen added. “We began in September 2020, there were eight semesters in total and we had work to complete it over the summer.

“We had great fun, we really had. It was great to be able to bounce ideas off one another and even to discuss things we were learning about

“It was a big commitment and there would be times you were thinking ‘this is a lot’ but we were always there to support one another. Every Monday evening we travelled to Letterkenny together and we discussed the course. We also travelled to exams together and whoever was not driving would recite the notes and all we had to learn. The whole thing was a very positive experience, I think Roisin would agree.”