IRISH FULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NUMBER 29 SPRING 2011 NEWSLETTER

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1 NEWSLETTER IFAA SCHOLARS /THANKSGIVING DINNER 2010 The 2010 Irish Fulbright Alumni Association Scholars /Thanksgiving Dinner was held on 26th November in the Dining Hall, Trinity College Dublin. The event was very well attended with a mix of honoured guests, sponsors, IFAA Alumni and their friends and families, as well as current US Fulbright Scholars in Ireland and representatives from the US Embassy and the Irish Fulbright Commission. The Dining Hall was an exceptional venue for the event, and a roaring log fire added to the atmosphere on the night. The evening began with a wine reception as people mingled and got to know each other. Paul Donnelly, Vice- President of the IFAA, then welcomed everyone, and his speech was followed by an address by Prof. Veronica Campbell, Dean of Graduate Studies in TCD. Prof. Campbell provided a very warm welcome to all in attendance, and also referred to the historic origins of the Dining Hall and its importance in the life of TCD. She spoke warmly about the Fulbright programme and thanked the IFAA for organising the event. TCD Catering served a wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving dinner including turkey with all the trimmings. Towards the end of the meal, IFAA President Frank McGoldrick thanked everyone for their attendance, and paid tribute to our university sponsors for their generous contributions to the event. He then invited Vice-President Paul Donnelly to present a citation for the announcement of the 2010 IFAA Medal of Honour recipient, Aidan Kennedy. Aidan was surprised and delighted to receive the medal, and thanked all who were involved in arranging this award. The memorable evening concluded with a wonderful performance of Kay O Loughlin Kennedy & John Hurley at the IFAA Scholars /Thanksgiving Dinner 2010 Myles Dungan & Nerys Williams at the IFAA Scholars /Thanksgiving Dinner 2010 Uilleann pipes, poetry and song by internationally renowned piper Jimmy O Brien Moran, a Fulbright alumnus and a member of the IFAA committee. PAGE 1

2 ERIN TREACY US FULBRIGHT AWARDEE TO IRELAND I-10 My paintings reflect my desire to create a fantasy world based on spatial memories and experiences. Over the years, travel has been an integral part in my artistic practice. By experiencing differing landscapes and cultures, I have been able to find contrasting ideas of beauty, while simultaneously discovering similarities within the details of our surroundings. My ambitions to focus on the geographical history of the Burren brought me to County Clare on a Fulbright Fellowship from September 2009 through May Previous training in school and my private studio practice had focused on the connection between landscape and memories. I use a variety of mediums and applications to express the multiplicity of moments that combine to form both history and memory. The paintings emphasize the importance of continuous exploration of various new landscapes. I never paint from direct observation. My creative process transpires in the gap of time that occurs between a place/experience and the studio. Scraping and building of the surface leaves numerous layers of paint visible in one moment. These physical layers of paint echo the conceptual layers of personal memories and a communal history of the surrounding environment. Prior to my Fulbright, I was doing what many newly Master of Fine Arts graduates do: teaching part-time at a local college, waitressing 2 days a week, and spending the rest of my time working in my studio in an abandoned mill building in southern Massachusetts. I was actively exhibiting in group-exhibitions and had just had my first solo exhibition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Due to the importance of travel, I was applying and being accepted into numerous artist symposiums in Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Finland. Symposiums allow you opportunity to work alongside other artists from around the world. These experiences were very influential in my studio production, but they are only introductions into other cultures and landscapes. The Fulbright became my top priority; I wanted the extended period of time to visually investigate the Burren, a landscape I had been introduced to in Exploring the Burren and working in the studio at the same time allowed a steady flow of information and creativity. The Burren inspired me because in its natural state it possesses unique silence that is only extenuated through the small villages spotted in its expansive space. Through ecological history, time has left a variety of flora and fauna cohabitating in one landscape. By using the natural variation provided within a small region, I created a visual catalog of drawings, photographs, and memories I gathered through investigative hikes. This information culminated in a series of abstracted paintings illustrating a fantasy world, yet derived from one environment and its evolutionary process. Once living in Ireland, my landscape exploration expanded, as I had this wonderful amount of time to I-3 (Continued on page 7) PAGE 2

3 LOUGHY S AWARD-WINNING Our very own Loughy John O Loughlin Kennedy is the founder of an award-winning company, WINIcabs ( com), in addition to being the inventor of the technology at the heart of the company s business. WINIcabs was named winner of the prestigious Aepona/Neustar Developer Challenge at the recently held Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona. WINI, which stands for When I Need It, Where I Need It, is poised to revolutionise the taxi industry. The WINIcabs system is a patented, fully automated taxi dispatch system that links available taxis with customers using existing mobile phone technology. Having automatically established their location, the customer s phone call is diverted to an available taxi driver that is less than 5 minutes drive away. Once the pick up point has been agreed, the customer receives a security confirmation text giving the driver s name, make, model and colour of the taxi, along with the TECHNOLOGY taxi license number. Once the trip is complete, the customer has several additional options to pay the taxi fare, including charging to a credit card or even charging it to their mobile phone bill. Anyone can call a taxi using the WINIcabs system from any mobile phone. As the Wall Street Journal ( No more waiting for taxis in the rain, November 26, 2010) observed: Sometimes you meet a start-up with a solution that is so obvious, and so neat, yet solves a very real problem and has potential to be a big moneymaker that you can t imagine how no one else has thought of it. Commenting that winning the award was a great honour for WINIcabs, Loughy added: I am thrilled that we have represented what is best in Irish technology, research and development. Within hours of us achieving this award we have been approached by several government bodies and international communications companies to discuss our product and how it may benefit them. I hope that our success will encourage more Irish technology companies to enter the global stage. Live testing has started among the 900 Dublin taxi drivers that have already signed up for the system, with a full commercial launch planned for summer Loughy spent his Fulbright in 1961/62 at the UCLA Graduate School of Business Administration, which he said blew his mind with its can-do attitude and its positive encouragement to question established wisdom and assumptions. Since then, Loughy has taken that can-do attitude to heart, from founding Concern with his wife Kay back in 1968 all the way through to WINIcabs today. We wish Loughy and all at WINIcabs well and we look forward to benefiting from the technology in the near future. SPONSORS OF THE IRISH FULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IFAA gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship/assistance of: U.S. Department of State Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade Irish Fulbright Commission IDA Ireland Chartered Accountants Ireland Dublin City University Dublin Institute of Technology Griffith College, Dublin National University of Ireland, Galway National University of Ireland, Maynooth Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Trinity College Dublin University College Cork University College Dublin University of Limerick PAGE 3

4 AIDAN KENNEDY AWARDED IFAA MEDAL OF HONOUR Aidan & Timmina Kennedy with the 2010 IFAA Medal of Honour The 2010 recipient of the IFAA Medal of Honour is Aidan Kennedy, in recognition of both his contributions to the activity and development of the Association and the ideals of Fulbright. The medal was presented to Aidan by IFAA President, Frank McGoldrick, at the 2010 Scholars /Thanksgiving Dinner. All who know Aidan will be aware of how he has contributed to the Association and Fulbright in a number of different ways. He is a true and sincerely warm friend and he embraces anything that is asked of him with gusto and carries it off with distinction. A man of immense integrity, allied with his attention to detail and reliability, assures confidence in what he does. Indeed, these characteristics, amongst many others, made him an excellent editor of our newsletter for a number of years. Aidan is not a person who seeks the limelight; rather he goes about things quietly, calmly and diligently. Working with him on the IFAA committee was always a pleasure. His contributions to the work of the committee were always thoughtful and engaging, his concern always being to serve the interests of our members in whatever way he could. Indeed, he shouldered more than his fair share of the work of the committee throughout his tenure, more often than not volunteering to take on tasks without being asked. When it came to our Jubilee year, for example, and the myriad events we organised, Aidan was always available to assist, going so far as to volunteer his lovely wife, Timmina, and son, Oran (also a Fulbrighter), to receive and register guests as they arrived. On a number of occasions over the years, both Aidan and Timmina, along with Paul Donnelly, would sit around a table at their home stuffing, sealing and stamping literally hundreds of envelopes filled with letters, membership renewal forms and newsletters. As former IFAA President, Thérèse Fahy, noted: Aidan was hugely supportive to me during my Presidency, not least when I was sick, going so far as to request music to be played for me on Lyric FM! All in all, he has been a true and warmly sincere friend who has given so much to us. Of course, while the award was a surprise to Aidan, his family were party to ensuring he was at the Thanksgiving Dinner. When Oran was contacted to get the covert IFAA President Frank McGoldrick presenting Aidan Kennedy with the 2010 IFAA Medal of Honour IFAA Vice-President Paul Donnelly delivering the citation for Aidan Kennedy PAGE 4

5 operation rolling, this is some of what he wrote in reply: I know that he and my Mam will be over the moon. It always struck me that Dad quietly went about his IFAA business without making too much noise about it, but behind it all he was really dedicated, committed and genuinely interested in getting things done and improving them where possible. When I think about it, Fulbright has been quite a significant, and fantastic, influence in our family in recent years dad and mam started their married life in Chicago on a Fulbright in the 70 s, and now, 30 or so years later, Elaine and I are still here in NYC after my 2008/9 Fulbright. There are not too many things that remain constant from one generation to the next these days! Willo Roe, Thérèse Fahy & Anne Cleary listening to Aidan Kennedy Aidan remained oblivious to what was happening until, as he commented, Timmina s little underthe-table kick, which got him to pay more attention to what was being said. While he was genuinely surprised, he commented: If my fellow Fulbrighters consider me worthy of this award, then I am happy to accept. IRELAND UNITED STATES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The US Embassy in Dublin is proactively facilitating and promoting the formation of a new umbrella alumni association, the Ireland United States Alumni Association (IUSA). Many of you may already be aware of this new association through communication received from Katie Keogh at the Embassy s Office of Public Affairs. The new association emanates from a directive of the Obama Administration and is part of a global initiative by the US State Department to pull together, in a comprehensive international network, all those who have benefited from US funded exchange programmes. In addition to Fulbright, the US sponsors the following: American Council of Young Political Leaders Atlantic Corridor at Boston College Citizen Exchanges Fusion Arts Program Gilman Scholars International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) Iowa Writers Program Irish Institute at Boston College Mitchell Scholars Study of the US Institutes Voluntary Visitors Program Washington-Ireland Program Youth Exchange Program Currently, there are over 3,000 alumni of these exchange programmes, with approximately 100 new alumni joining each year. The IUSA vision is to be a substantial, active, useful and creative association of members who are committed to making significant and meaningful contributions to Ireland, the lives of its people and to one another. In terms of mission, the new association is to mobilize and utilize the power, talents, experience and leadership of its alumni in order to make a beneficial contribution to Ireland as a whole. The US Embassy is very aware of the great work that is being done for and by alumni already, particularly for alumni of Fulbright and the Washington-Ireland Program. The Embassy is keen for the IFAA to remain a vibrant association and for us to partner with the IUSA to mutual benefit. As Katie Keogh, the Alumni Coordinator at the Embassy, confirms: The new alumni association in Ireland will not supersede either alumni association, but will work to bring alumni from all the programs together into this new association to encourage alumni to build on their exchange experience in the US. From the IFAA s perspective, we are actively involved with the IUSA through our Vice President, Paul Donnelly, and former President, Thérèse Fahy, both of whom are serving on the IUSA Interim Board of Directors. Our representatives are looking out for the interests of the IFAA, while also playing a positive role in the IUSA s development. PAGE 5

6 IFAA COMMITTEE President Mr Frank McGoldrick, Vice-President Dr Paul Donnelly Dublin Institute of Technology Honorary Secretary Dr Maeve Martin, Honorary Treasurer Professor Patrick Clancy, University College Dublin. Membership Secretary Dr Sarah Ingle, Dublin City University Website Editor Dr Kevin Scallan, Newsletter Editor Vacant Ordinary Members Professor Séamus Ó Cinnéide, NUI Maynooth David Fennelly, Dr James O Brien Moran, Waterford Institute of Technology jimmyobm@gmail.com Dr Síle O Modhrain Queens Unversity Belfast. sile@qub.ac.uk Professor Darach Turley Dublin City University darach.turley@dcu.ie US FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR ORIENTATION: 9TH 12TH SEPTEMBER 2010 The US Fulbrighters enjoyed a very full programme of events for their Irish Orientation Session in September Spanning four days, the orientation kicked off in Fulbright HQ, Brooklawn House, Ballsbridge, with an overview of Ireland s current cultural, educational, political and economic situation from Malcolm Byrne, Communications Director, Higher Education Authority, Dr. Darren Kelly, Lecturer, Saint Patrick s College and Fulbright Scholar in Residence and Mr. William Prasifka, Fulbright US Board Member , Financial Ombudsman. The afternoon was spent enjoying a walking tour of the city and the evening was rounded off with a trip to the Abbey Theatre where Fulbrighters were treated to Seán O Casey s Plough and the Stars. Bright and early the following day, the Fulbrighters spent a morning at the National Museum of Ireland, where they were brought on a tour of the Soldiers & Chiefs Exhibition. After a light lunch, they travelled on to NUI Maynooth for a two day Irish Language Immersion Programme. As well as learning to speak a number of Fulbrighter Roger Savage taking a stroll through NUI Maynooth phrases as Gaeilge, highlights of the orientation included dinner in Castletown House, Irish Dancing in Ráth Chairn, a lecture on Irish myths and legends, as well as a surprise trip to the site of the Battle of the Boyne. The orientation was thoroughly enjoyed by all, in particular as it provided the new scholars with the opportunity to meet and spend a number of days together, while sharing and experiencing many aspects of Irish culture. US Fulbrighters outside the National Museum of Ireland PAGE 6

7 (Continued from page 2) concentrate on my art. I was an unaffiliated Fulbright grantee; my contact was with the Commission for any assistance. Primarily based in The Burren, I began to travel more and more, and found, in the end, my portfolio that concluded my Fulbright Fellowship was an investigation into the diversity of the west coast of Ireland. In particular Donegal, Mayo, Connemara, Clare and Kerry were very influential in my creative process. I was able to spend a month in County Kerry at the Cill Rialaig project, a month in County Mayo at the Custom House Studios, a month camping in Donegal, and my favorite day trip from the Burren, Connemara. Having nine months to visually research, explore, and produce in the studio allowed for these month long projects in various places. The pace of time was one of the biggest differences from my artistic practices in the US. Living in some of the more remote areas allowed for distraction-less concentration on my work. Though I would frequently travel to Dublin to visit exhibitions, it was not readily accessible. This would be an annoyance at some points, but at others a blessing. It was important to know the work of my professional ERIN TREACY peers in Ireland, but allowing for distance helped specificity in my own artistic voice. Having returned to NYC, I am now readjusting back into the bustle and rediscovering my place amongst my peers, while missing the dark, quiet nights of the Burren. At the end of my fellowship in Ireland, I organized two educational exhibitions and public lectures in the Burren, Ballyvaughan and Kinvara. Under the guidance of Colleen Dube, Director of the Irish Fulbright Commission, a selection of paintings traveled to Dublin and was on view at Mason, Hayes and Curran. Currently, I am teaching Art History and Studio Drawing for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and recently exhibited in Baltimore, Maryland, and Miami, Florida, in December An exhibition of the work completed on my Fulbright is set for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 2011, and in the summer of 2012, I will return to Ireland for a 3-person exhibition in Ennistymon, Co. Clare, at the Courthouse Gallery. Further information and examples of Erin s work can be found at: Upcoming events: Spring/Summer 2011 The IFAA committee invites you to join us for a number of upcoming events. Our Membership Secretary, Sarah Ingle, will provide further information as the date approaches. 25 March 2011: Launch of Ireland US Alumni Assocation (IUSA), National Gallery, Dublin. Please contact Katie Keogh (dublinrsvp@state.gov) to request an invitation. 1 April 2011: IFAA annual visit to National Concert Hall, Dublin. Please contact Séamus Ó Cinnéide (higgeide@gofree.indigo.ie) for reservations. 13 May 2011: IFAA Annual General Meeting. Venue in Dublin city centre to be confirmed. June 2011: Welcome event for 2011/2012 Irish Fulbright Scholar and Student Awardees. Details to be confirmed. IFAA VISIT TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY Members of the Irish Fulbright Alumni Association will know that the committee has been trying to put in place a programme of social activities that would appeal to our incoming US Scholars and also to our members. This year, as part of that programme, we made a visit to the National Gallery on the morning of January 29th. There was a large turn out of IFFA members and their friends. We broke up in to two groups, and our tours of the Gallery were conducted by two excellent guides, who chose a selection of paintings that whetted our appetites for return visits to this wonderful venue. When the tours were completed, we all adjourned for lunch in the Gallery restaurant. Such was the success of the occasion that the committee intends to organise a similar visit next year. We would welcome feedback on such outings, as we are open to considering a visit to other Dublin galleries, or to places of interest to members, their friends, and of course our visiting scholars. Why not join us for some of these very pleasing occasions? We look forward to meeting you. Lucy Ryan & Tom Ryan in the Gallery Restaurant PAGE 7

8 SCENES FROM THE IFAA SCHOLARS /THANKSGIVING DINNER TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NOVEMBER 2010 Thérèse Fahy & Anne Cleary Sarah Ingle & Séamus Ó Cinnéide Maeve Martin & Katie Keogh Peter Tiernan & Róisín Tiernan US Fulbright Scholars Megan Shaughnessy & Elizabeth Oldmixon PAGE 8