Over 2,200 students and Honorary Doctorates to be celebrated at SETU - Kilkenny Live

This year’s conferring ceremonies at the South East Technological University (SETU) will feature the inaugural awarding of honorary doctorates and the graduation of over 2,200 students.

The first conferring of awards is set to take place this week at the Carlow campus on Tuesday, October 31 and Wednesday, November 1, and at the Waterford campus on Thursday, November 2 and Friday, November 3. 

The Wexford campus conferring takes place on Friday, November 10, with further ceremonies on the Carlow and Waterford campuses in January 2024. 

This year, SETU is set to become the first TU to bestow honorary doctorate awards to five distinguished individuals, chosen by the SETU Governing Body following a rigorous process of nomination. 

Honorary doctorates are to be conferred today on former politician Dr Maurice Manning in Carlow and on renowned actress Carrie Crowley and pioneering biomedical engineer, Prof. Annraoi de Paor on Friday in Waterford. 

Awards will be bestowed on internationally acclaimed writer Claire Keegan, Irish academic, and career diplomat and former Irish ambassador to the USA, Daniel Mulhall this coming January.  

SETU President, Professor Veronica Campbell says the conferring of an honorary degree is the most ‘prestigious accolade’ that a university can bestow on a person. 

“I would like to extend my congratulations to Dr Maurice Manning, Carrie Crowley and Prof. Annraoi de Paor on the awarding of their SETU honorary doctorates at ceremonies this week in Carlow and Waterford,” said Professor Campbell.  

The purpose of a SETU honorary doctorate is to recognise an individual’s exceptional achievements that have shaped society. The award also acknowledges that the individual’s endeavours exemplify the values SETU wishes to promote.   

The awards tie in with SETU’s first strategic plan – ‘Connecting for Impact,’ an ambitious five-year road map to ensure that SETU becomes a leading technological university for the south east, Ireland and beyond.