Editor’s Note

A chairde, At the end of September, just as the ivy on the sides of the historic South Campus buildings began to tinge red, the Maynooth campus became alive again. True enough, meet-ups engendered feelings ranging from hesitance to elation. Yet for most people, it seems, any feelings of awkwardness upon seeing colleagues, students and friends in person quickly fleeted.

After a year of mainly remote learning and working, autumn 2021 brought renewed optimism. And even though we’re far from out of the woods—with terms like masking, social distance, and ventilation taking up an inordinate amount of space in our vocabularies—the welcome reprieve from isolation was palpable in Maynooth this year.

After all, the Maynooth University campus community is incredibly social. We can’t help it, really. Our roots are as a small college based in Ireland’s only “university town.” As we grew up, our curriculum reforms continued to emphasise mixing across the subjects and hands-on experiential learning. As our research intensified, the structural supports created—our Research Institutes—were purpose-built for inter-disciplinary collaboration. Even as a staff community, being smaller forced us to work together in ways that mightn’t be necessary at larger institutions. All of these characteristics stood us well throughout the pandemic.

You’ll read about some of these successes in the pages ahead. But fortunately, you’ll also read about how the University is preparing itself for a time when Covid isn’t the dominant news story, on campus or off. We are at a wonderful, promising inflection point as a community. We are preparing to celebrate our 25th anniversary as an independent institution—and yet one that remains appreciative of our much older historical and scholarly roots that helped shape who we are today. We prepare to celebrate with a new President, Professor Eeva Leinonen, at the helm, bringing a broad set of global experiences and new ideas to our corner of the world.

Over the year ahead, look out for new ways to engage with us on this journey. You may choose to participate in an alumni survey, which will allow us to get a better sense of where our alumni end up post-Maynooth. You may want to join our 25 for 25 effort and gather 25 MU alumni or friends wherever you are in the world to be part of the celebrations.

You may choose to become an alumni mentor, or volunteer in the MU School of Business Living Lab, or become a financial supporter of the MU Foundation—a newly rebuilt charitable organisation that is providing vital funds to MU students and university priorities.

This year’s edition of The Bridge is very much focused on engagement. We sought to bring our stories to life by producing an interactive digital edition. So look out for the camera symbols and hyperlinks to see and hear from our community in their own voices, and for ways to engage directly with the University. Connecting with one another again is very much on the cards in 2022. After all, it’s who we are.

With warm regards,

Rebecca Doolin Director of Development and External Relations