Eileen O’Mara Walsh Scholarship Award
The Eileen O’Mara Walsh Scholarship Programme celebrates the life and achievements of Dr. Eileen O’Mara Walsh. Eileen’s family, in conjunction with Dublinia, a not-for-profit organisation, provide the scholarship to support future professionals in the tourism industry.
Eileen O’Mara Walsh was a prominent figure in the Irish tourism industry for nearly four decades. She was the first woman to chair the board of a commercial State company, Great Southern Hotels, the founder and first chairwoman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, and chairwoman of Forbairt, now Enterprise Ireland, for five years.
In 2006 she received an honorary doctorate from Dublin Institute of Technology for her contribution to the Irish tourism industry.
The Scholarship supports one student from the Masters in Tourism Management programme every year and is to the value of €4,000. This year the panel of Eoghan O’Mara Walsh (ITIC), Mary Therese Byrne (Dublinia, and former MSc Tourism student), and Gerry Dunne (TU Dublin) awarded the scholarship to Szymon Lojek (MSc Tourism Management – January Intake).
Congratulations Szymon!