1984 Reunion Event

We were delighted to welcome many of the very first students of DCU at their 1984 40th Anniversary Reunion.

Alumni of the Business Class of 1984 were joined by some classmates from Engineering, and Accounting and Finance from ‘84 and ‘83 at the event on Glasnevin Campus.

Many had not returned to the campus, then the National Institute of Higher Education, since they had graduated. NIHE became DCU in 1989.

Alumni were welcomed to the event at in the 1838 Restaurant and President's Lounge on DCU’s Glasnevin campus by Laura Mahoney, Executive Director of Engagement at DCU and DCU President Prof Dáire Keogh who spoke about how the gathered alumni were the real pioneers of what was to become DCU as the crowd included Nial Ring, former Lord Mayor of Dublin, who was only the second person ever to graduate from NIHE. Prof Keogh also brought alumni up to date with the many achievements of DCU and the DCU Business school over the years.

Brian Leavy representing DCU Business School, who had taught some of those gathered, returned to meet alumni and also spoke of the many memories and stories from DCU over the years and finally, John McGinnity, one of the organising committee, shared some anecdotes about student life from those days.

Alumni were then taken on a short tour of the campus, including walking the stage in the O’Mahony Hall in The Helix, which didn’t exist in their DCU days, and seeing the stage from the point of view at DCU graduations. The tour also took in a group photo with the DCU letters and many of their old classrooms and haunts in the Henry Grattan building, which to some seemed mostly unchanged.

Following the tour it was back to 1838 for a three-course dinner to continue the reminiscing with many choosing to extend the celebrations at the nearby student favourite pub ‘The Slipper’.

We thank John, Mary and Vincent of the organising committee for helping to bring people together for the event, to Brian Leavy, Laura Mahoney and Prof. Keogh for joining us and for the restaurant and Alumni Relations team for their support in making the event happen.

If you are an alumni of Glasnevin and would like to help bring your classmates back for a Reunion event, please note that next year’s Glasnevin Reunion will take place on Saturday June 14th 2025. If you want to chat with us about a Reunion or reserve a table at the 2025 reunion, please email alumni@dcu.ie