UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Monday, 3 September 2018 at 5.30 pm
TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PAT GIBBONS, School of Agriculture and Food Science on 3 September 2018, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa on JOHN O’LOUGHLIN KENNEDY.
A dhaoine uaisle, Dia dhaoibh go léir agus comhghairdeas speisialta dár gcéimithe nua atá anois ina mbaill iomlán de theaghlach UCD
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to all and a special congratulation to our new graduates who are now fully-fledged members of the UCD family.
For more than 150 years graduates have emerged from this institution as ‘change agents’ who have used their acquired competences to bring about positive change in Ireland and beyond. We honour individuals who stand out for their achievements and contributions by conferring on them the highest academic qualification – the Degree of Doctor of Science. There is no more fitting recipient of such an accolade than John O’Loughlin Kennedy. Mine is the rather easy task of telling you why.
John O’Loughlin Kennedy graduated with a BA in Economics from University College Dublin in 1953 where he was a member of the Students’ Representative Council. He is also a Fulbright Scholar who spent his fellowship year in the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of California, Los Angeles.
John had an illustrious career in both the private and public sectors. He worked for many years in management for Hallmark Cards and later at the Economist Intelligence Unit of Ireland (EIU) which was founded by Dr. Garret FitzGerald. He was Executive Director of An Taisce where he campaigned for the conservation of the natural and built environment and contributed to the revision of planning legislation. Indeed, one might suggest that such significant contributions to Irish society might of themselves warrant academic recognition.
However, it is John’s significant contribution to relieving the suffering of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable people for which he is being honoured here today. In 1968, the war between Biafran separatists and the Nigerian state was causing a devastating famine. Over a two-year period there was approximately 100,000 military causalities and an estimated two million people died of starvation. John and his wife Kay had an insight into what was happening on the ground through John’s brother, Raymond who was a missionary in Nigeria. Raymond had many contacts in Biafra and knew they were in desperate need of support, so John and Kay decided to do something. They gathered a group of 40 people in their home on Northumberland Avenue and that night formed Africa Concern, as it was known at first. Africa Concern joined with a group formed by Vincent Grogan, of the Knights of St Columbanus, and a volunteer committee undertook a media campaign. In June 1968, the Catholic and Anglican bishops of Owerri (Nigeria) jointly launched the campaign, making ecumenical history as it was the first time a Catholic and Anglican bishop had spoken on a shared platform in Dublin. The Irish public response was extraordinary; five large ships were chartered to bring vitally needed supplies to the Joint Church Aid airlift that broke the blockade of Biafra. Within 30 months, by the end of the Biafran conflict, Africa Concern had raised and spent £3.5 million (equivalent to €65 million today).
John and Kay continued to support the organisation through its first years, broadening its scope beyond the original focus on Africa to other areas of the world ravaged by war and natural disasters. Today, fifty years later, Concern Worldwide has grown to become a social institution in Ireland with an annual turnover of more than €200m, active in 25 of the poorest countries globally and with more than 3000 employees. Over the years John has been resolute and tireless in challenging the causes and consequences of poverty. He subsequently went on to be instrumental in establishing other equally reputable organisations including Aid link and the Irish Refugee Council.
This is not Mr O’Loughlin Kennedy’s first award. Among the notable awards received to date are: the Irish Fulbright Alumni Association Gold Medal of Honour; and the prestigious Aepona/Neustar Developer Challenge award. His leadership, resoluteness and innovative genius is recognised globally. On several occasions when asked for a rationale for his many successes, Mr O’Loughlin Kennedy refers to his formative years in UCD and UCLA that, in his own words, equipped him with the
‘can-do attitude and the necessary confidence, authority and know-how to succeed’.
We are living in a world with unprecedented levels of global advancement in science, technology and communications. Unfortunately, these developments are equally matched by growing levels of inequality, state fragility and historic levels of population displacement due to climate change, conflicts and protracted crises in far too many parts of our world. UCD’s founding father, John Henry Newman, in his seminal work – The Idea of a University – presented the university as a place where professors and students from across disciplines converge in debate to share knowledge for the betterment of society. In essence, the challenge for us all is to apply of acquired competences in an informed manner to maximise societal impact. Few have been able to grapple with this challenge better that John O’Loughlin Kennedy. He has applied his economic competences at the highest levels in both the public and private sectors while successfully engaging with the aid sector to earn a reputation that counts him among the great Irish Humanitarians. The world is a much better place because of the energy, agency, sense of mission and outstanding contributions of John O’Loughlin Kennedy.
In concluding, the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, who himself a humanitarian of some standing, has paid tribute to: the endeavour commenced by John and Kay fifty years ago, and the vital role that they played in awakening a spirit of generosity and solidarity amongst the Irish people.
It is a great honour to present John O’Loughlin Kennedy for the Degree of Doctor of Science.
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Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hunc meum filium, quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad Gradum Doctoratus Scientiae; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.