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Prize Night took
place in the Stillorgan Park Hotel on Tuesday, 18th
May, and featured a talk from Guest of Honour, Mr P.S.
Raghavan, the Ambassador of India to Ireland. Mr. Raghavan
explored some of the historical links through which the two
countries have forged a special bond despite their sharply
contrasting profiles: India with its massive population of
1.2. billion and relatively much smaller diaspora in
comparison to Ireland’s 5 million citizens and massive
diaspora of over 70 million. Our distinguished guest
advised us that we may sometimes underestimate the
importance of this Irish presence overseas and that St.
Patrick’s Day is celebrated as much in Ho Chi Minh City as
it is in Dublin!
Mr. Raghavan served
as Indian Ambassador to the Czech Republic prior to his
posting in Ireland and, when alerted of his imminent posting
here, he made a list of schools to contact with a view to
allowing his sons to complete their second level education.
Once the family had spoken to Mr. Ryan and Ms. Garrett they
looked no further for a school and enjoyed four sunny days
exploring Dublin. This did mean that he returned to the
Czech Republic under one serious delusion about Ireland, as
he could never subsequently understand the Irish Ambassador
in Prague being so apologetic about our weather. Until he
came to live here.
Andrew Barker and
Andrew Montgomery each spoke on behalf of the Students’
Council and expressed a warm appreciation of their time at
Oatlands. Mr. Ryan welcomed the Sixth Years into the
broader community of Oatlands Past Pupils , two of whom were
honoured for their achievements in the 2009 Leaving
Certificate. Aaron O Connor was presented with his Gold
Medal for First place in the Leaving Certificate Technology
Examination and Anish Raghavan received the Summa Cum Laude
Award from his father for his exceptional overall
performance in the exam . Mr. Ryan went on to reflect on the
achievements of the year group and the evening concluded
with the presentation of some of the most important Prize
Night Awards. Leadership Awards went to Padraic Fitzpatrick,
Emmet Jennings, Alec Moloney, Bill O Carroll and James O
Keeffe.The Principal's Awards were presented to Andrew
Barker, Darren Lawlor and Stephen Sinnott. Emmet Jennings
and Jack Doughan were nominated as Joint Sports Stars of the
Year. Alec Moloney was the recipient of The Michael P.
Courtney Award for Academic Excellence and, finally, the
Student of the Year Award went to Báetán Teague.
For pictures, follow
the link to the newsletter
here.
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