Irish American University Confers Its First Master of Arts Degrees in International Relations on Fourteen Distinguished Graduates

DUBLIN, October 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Irish American University, an American university with a campus on Merrion Square in Dublin, today conferred Master of Arts in International Relations degrees on 14 distinguished graduates. The ceremony took place in the historic Oscar Wilde House where the well known Dublin solicitor and author, Dr. Gerald Kean, was the commencement speaker and was followed by a private reception at the Shelburne Hotel.

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The class of fourteen students had travelled to Ireland from as far away as Rwanda, the United States and Switzerland to study crisis management, conflict resolution, genocide and its aftermath, peace and reconciliation, global finance and security, climate change, energy policy and diplomatic relations. The "global classroom" format took the class from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to the remote village of Kibeho, Rwanda where they provided humanitarian and development aid to local communities.

Lecturers included former Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani; former Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney; former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge; noted economist Dr. Arthur Laffer and General Feroz Khan of Pakistan. The class also had an opportunity to meet with former President Bill Clinton; U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Peter Robinson, First Minister Northern Ireland; U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney and Peter Briner, State Councillor of Switzerland.

The fourteen graduates today included:

Hon. Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr., Detroit City Council;

Hon. William Briggs Hopson III, Senator, Mississippi State Senate;

Hon. John R. Pippy, Senator, Senate of Pennsylvania;

Hon. Roderick D. Wright, Senator, California State Senate;

Hon. Christopher Heaton-Harris, M.P., House of Commons, UK;

Hon. James Walsh, Senator, Seanad Eireann, Ireland;

Hon. Sean Ardagh, Former TD in Dail Eireann, Ireland;

Hon. Aloisea Inyumba, Minister of Gender and Family Protection, Republic of Rwanda;

Hon. Francis Kaboneka, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of Rwanda;

Dr. Immaculee Ilibagiza, noted Rwandan author and human rights activist, now living in the United States;

Mr. Raymond O'Dwyer, County Manager, Waterford County Council, Ireland;

Mr. Timothy L. Day, Chairman, Legislative Leadership Institute, United States;

Ms. Amy Polasky, President, Legislative Leadership Institute, United States;

Mr. Robert Wood, President, BGR Group, Washington, D.C.