More than 440 students were today due to graduate from Belfast Metropolitan College at a ceremony in the Spires Conference Centre in Belfast.

Today is the first day of the college’s annual three-day graduation event. Today’s graduands completed higher level courses from within the following six programme areas at Belfast Met — Childcare/Health Care/Social Care, Hairdressing and Beauty, ICT Practitioner, Education/Professional Training and Counselling, Fitness/Health and Sport, and ICT – Media and Publishing.

The Ulster Rugby players in the 2009 Six Nations winning team were today due to pick up another award to add to their trophy cabinet.

Rugby international Rory Best received the Award of Distinction of behalf of the team at today’s graduation ceremony for their contribution to sport.

Another of today’s graduates is 21-year-old Eimear McKenna from Armagh. She receives her HND in Beauty Therapy and already has one successful year of running her own business under her belt.

Eimear joined the HND programme at the beginning of the recession and as a result, found it incredibly difficult to find a company that would take her on to provide her with the work experience required within the course.

Like any typical entrepreneur, Eimear did not let this stand in her way and decided to set up her own beauty business instead!

‘Fab Face and Body’ is now in its second year of trading and is going from strength to strength.

Eimear said: “I had the option of studying closer to home but soon realised that Belfast Metropolitan College would provide me with first class training and more opportunities.”

Eimear’s salon recently won the Best New Business Award in the Armagh Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Tourism Awards 2009.

Graduation Lists

Programme Area: Child Care/Health Care/Social Care

Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Studies

Jennifer Bell

Laura Dornan

Caroline Fletcher

Niamh Gallagher

Laura Higgins

Andrea Holmes

Susan Hunt

Renuka Ilangakoon

Nicola Laird

Claire Lawlor

Cathy Maguire

Danielle Maxwell

Clare Murphy

Bridget O’Neill

Wendy Rankin

Shona Rice

Higher National Diploma in Health and Social Care

Sarah Blackburn

Caitlin Curley

Grainne Donnelly

Aideen Dougan

Joyce Glover

Marguerite Hardy

Shauneen Horner

Alice Johnston

Angela Johnston

Catherine McAllister

Fiona McCormick

Emma McKillen

Lynda Neilson

Aoife O’Connor

Cara O’Hare

Judith Phillips

Clare Porter

Sarah Robinson

Rachel Stewart

Karen Tallon

Ashleigh Townsend

Kim Wallace

Higher National Certificate in Health and Social Care

Gerard Fox

Melanie Gardiner

Valerie Gibson

Grainne Hughes

Melissa Lagan

Jemma Mulholland

Michelle Quigley

Mairéad Quinn

Anton Sevtsov

Paul Wolfe

Tracey Wolfe

NVQ 4 in Children’s Care Learning & Development

Sherrie Beattie

Tyrone Best

Fey Clark

Una Dougherty

Lindsay Hilditch

Bronagh McAllister

Nora Ni Raghallai

Katie O’Brien

Kylie Petrie

Programme Area: |Education/Professional Training/Counselling

BA in Professional |Development – University of Dundee

Thomas Davidson

Stephen Foster

Catherine Fraser

Michael Garrett

Violet Hanna

Andrew Hunter

John Lynas

Margaret MacQuarrie

Michael McConville

Nigel McGonigle

Gareth McKee

Patrick McMullan

Alastair Monteith

Orla Patterson

Roy Semple

Denise Wright

Certificate in Teaching in Lifelong Learning Sector – University of Greenwich

Maurice Apsley

Cathy Bronte Sturgeon

Maureen Hanvey

Malcolm McFarland

Nigel McGonigle

Roy Semple

Russell Silverson

Ian Spence

Trevor Ian Starritt

Lorna Sturgeon

Alister Wallace

Joanna Wills

Elaine Wilson

Certificate in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong |Learning Sector – C & G 7303 Level 4

Sean Carey

David Downey

William Keating

William McIlroy

Samuel Nelson

Sherry Suett

Roisin Talbot

Gareth Wadsworth

Certificate for Adult Literacy Subject Specialists – C&G 9485

Fiona Coulter

Frances Doran

Maria Hughes

Marie McCloskey

Susan McDonald

Donald McEvoy

Gwendolin Patterson

Jacqueline Patton

Sinead Scullion

Certificate for Adult |Numeracy Subject Specialists – C&G 9486

Alyson Armstrong

Pamela Campbell

Tanya Gordon

Michael Herdman

Ricci Jackson

Peter Kane

Eleanor Kidd

Michael McAteer

David McCullough

Johanna Robinson

David Smyth

Certificate in English |Language Teaching to Adults

Deirdre Armstrong

Anna Beck

Laurence Besnard-Scott

Angela Bowes Gallagher

Margaret Crawford

Colin Cummings

Heather Dempster

Shane Farren

Paula Forsythe

Kathleen Glendinning

Daniel Graham

Paula Guzzanti Ferrer

Helen Hanna

Karen Heslip

Judith Jervis

Nataliya Maynes

Margaret McAuley

Catherine McCartney

Janice McKeith

Karen McNaney

Bernadette Mulhern

Michael O’Sullivan

Nicholas Quaile

Satyasree Roberts

Hannah Su

Ian Taylor

Certificate in Teaching |Learners with Specific |Learning Difficulties – (Dyslexia)

Linda Bothwell

Brenda Burton

Angela Cole

Heather Donaghy

Ethna Duffy

Cathleen Henry

Caitrina McCorry

Bernadette McMullan

Anna Mullan

Heather Pentland

Certificate of Higher |Education in Community Development & Education

Anthony Adams

Heather Billing

Philip Campbell

Annette Hallam

Francis McCracken

Elizabeth McClarnon

Heather Wilson

Margaret Wylie

Diploma of Higher Education in Counselling

Mark Brown

Catherine Daly

Mystica Furey

Teresa McCrisken

Patricia McCann

Gary McKeever

Josephine O’Neill

Peter Owens

Peter Pallin

Suzanne Quinn

Francis Shannon

Sonya Simmons

Certificate of Higher Education in Counselling Studies

Emma Bourquin

Natasha Francis

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – NVQ 4 Certificate in Learning and Development

Yvonne Connolly

Paulo Ruoppolo

DALF C1 – French Diploma

Elaine Bell

Peter Bowman

Irene Lawless

David McCrea

Douglas McIldoon

Jennifer Wheeler

DELE Superior – Spanish Diploma

Kevin Ferris

Christopher Fitzsimons

Marie Hazzard

Denise Leal

Gabriel O’Reilly

Programme Area: Fitness, Health & Sport

Higher National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science (Sports Science)

Tracey Anglin

Damien Braniff

Gerard Crossey

William Crowe

Niall Devlin

Louise Doorley

Michelle Gregory

Colin Hamilton

Laura Hislop

Dearbhla Irwin

Daniel Lafferty

Bond Lai

Ciaran McAuley

David McCartney

Gareth McCausland

Claire McCracken

Simon McCrory

Jason McMurray

Daniel Mervyn

Paul Millar

Sean O’Neill

Tony O’Neill

Gemma Quigley

Gavin Rafferty

Johnny Reid

Hugh Robb

Catrina Rodgers

Niall Smart

Alan Wilson

Higher National Diploma in Sport and Leisure Management (Health & |Fitness)

Matthew Brady

Michael Clarke

Niall Corbett

Michelle Cousins

Mdina Cowan

Rachael Cromie

Ryan Doherty

Graham Duffy

Aislinn Early

Eamonn Johnston

Stephen Logan

David Mayers

Daniel McCaffrey

Stephen McGarry

Christopher McGinley

Andrew McGreevy

Damien Mullan

Ronan O’Hara

Programme Area: Hairdressing & Beauty

Higher National Diploma in Beauty Therapy Sciences

Kelly Allen

Lois Bleeks

Ashling Brady

Jackie Cunningham

Ciara Curry

Michelle Fox

Anneka Hay

Michelle Hughes

Elaine King

Maire King

Clara Lavery

Eimear McKenna

Jan Millen

Charlene Monaghan

Deirdre O’Rawe

Michelle Reeves

Lauren Troy

Higher National Certificate in Hair and Scalp Therapy

Amanda Carty

Deirdre Donnelly

Linda Dunwoody

Lisa Ferguson

Justine Gartland

Paula Halcrow

Denise Kane

Adelle McGourty

Sharon McNamee

Julie McWilliams

Sharon Rogan

Programme Area: ICT Practitioner

Foundation Degree in Software Engineering

Deepthi Abraham with commendation

Eamonn Armstrong

Martin Carson with commendation

Bernadette Donnelly

Anton Hughes with commendation

Laura McKeating with commendation

Christopher McMullan with commendation

Sam Thompson with commendation

IT Academy Software Professional

Benjamin Anderson

Rosslyn Bowyer

Ronan Browne

Paul Burns

James Campbell

Owen Carleton

Peter Child

Claire Dennison

Wayne Doyle

Astrid Effendi

Christian Field

Steafan Gallagher

Isabel Enrique-Gascon

David Hughes

David Lawless

Chris Lynn

Christopher McCarthy

Peter McGuigan

Joseph McIlmurray

Brigette McNaughton

Andrews Millar

Alan Murray

Christopher Murray

Ronan O’Connor

Bernard O’Neill

Eamonn O’Reilly

Stuart Palin

Nicholas Parke

Trusha Patel

Gary Scott

David Seay

Selina Shiels

Safa Shirazi

Jonathan Stainer

Liam Tansey

Martin Walker

Higher National Diploma in Computing

Adam Beatie

Andrew Dance

Kerry Greer

Paul Griffin

Leonard Holmes

Eoin Hughes

Stephen Johnston

Jason Lennon

Simon Lyness

Christopher McConville

Michael McNab

Brendan O’Kane

Ruairi Smith

Sean Smyth

Alastair Toner

Higher National Diploma in Software Engineering

Jason Ferguson

Criostoir Graham

Gareth Magee

David Martin

Martin Owens

Andrew Wilkinson

Higher National Diploma in Administration and Information Management

Amanda Devlin

Susanne Gibson

Laura Martin

Aisling McCaffrey

Louise McCavigan

Davide Messina

Emma Muckian

Carmen Murphy

Johanna Notarantonio

Higher National Certificate in Administration and |Information Management

Michelle Coulter

Caroline Hilland

Bridgeen Loughran

Sarah Jane Lynn

Danny McKee

Amanda Waring

Victoria Weir

Higher National Certificate in Computing

Andrew Gilmore

Adrian Lavery

John Paul McDonnell

Damien Ratchford

Christopher Reid

Mark Valley

Higher National Certificate in Software Engineering

Philip Black

Stephen Gordon

Darren Grieve

Philip Hall

Gareth McGibbon

Gavin Wright

Executive Secretary’s Diploma

Elena Travera Alba

Linda Boal

Barbara Brown

Danielle Ferran

Helen Gillespie

Shaia Hassay

Suzanne Lambe

Rosemary Lauder

Karen Mason

Martine Mateer

Emma McMahon

Lisa Nugent

Karen Osborne

Maria Monica Salomeia

Programme Area: ICT Media/Publishing

Foundation Degree in Science iMedia

Simon Fraser with commendation

Craig Gillespie

Chris Grant with commendation

Bob Li with commendation

Paul Matchett with commendation

Sean McMahon with commendation

Colm Morgan with commendation

Anthony Quinn with commendation

Anthony Robinson

Desmond Shearer with commendation

Gary Turkington with commendation

David Turner with commendation

Christopher White with commendation

Foundation Degree in |Graphic Communications

Barry Chambers with commendation

Martin Magee

Martin McKeown with commendation

Certificate in Higher |Education in Graphic Communications

Shane Hamill

Alan McIntyre

Higher National Diploma in Multimedia

Daniel Copeland

Carrie McKinney

Callum Stewart

Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design

Colin Armstrong

Paul Boal

Ryan Calderwood

Joanne Foy

Alan Frame

Matthew Harris

Peter Hunter

Maoliosa Kelly

Leanne Lawrence

Amie McAllister

Brian McAnulty

Christopher McCaffrey

Gary McDermott

Stephen McGlue

Jonathan Mitchell

Gerard Mooney

Higher National Diploma in Media

Ryan Andrews

Jenna Booth

Julie Burden

Matthew Burns

Jonathan Burnside

Elaine Calvert

David Clarke

Christine Cullen

Ronan Fitzpatrick

John Gilmour

Darren Hyland

Lee Kingsmore

Jonathan McBriar

Nuala McDonnell

Oliver O’Hanlon

Lucy Ann Rodgers

Johnny Simpson

Nikyle Sloan

Robert Stewart

Aisling Trainor

Laurence White

Neil Whiteside

NVQ Level 4 Newspaper Journalism

Lucy Adams

Megan Campbell

Neil Carnduff

Simon Finn

Paula Fulton

Emma–Louise Gibson

Andrew Johnston

Claire McAuley

Christine McBurney

Aideen McCaul

Claire McLoughlin

Louise Quinn

Jane Veitch

Higher National Certificate in Multimedia

Robert Armstrong

Kevin Dunne

Mark Millar

Special Prizes

Fitness, Health and Sport

Higher National Diploma in Sport & Exercise Science

Student of the Year

Claire McCracken (Sponsored by J R McKee & Co, Chartered Accountants)

Higher National Diploma in Sport & Leisure |Management

Student of the Year

Michelle Cousins (Sponsored by Premiere People)

Higher National Diploma in Sport & Leisure |Management

Student of the Year

David Mayers (Sponsored by LyleBailie International)

Hairdressing and Beauty

Higher National Diploma in Beauty Therapy Sciences

Student of the Year

Deirdre O’Rawe (Sponsored by Sally Salon Services)

Higher National Diploma in Beauty Therapy Sciences

Student of the Year (part time non qualified)

Jackie Cunningham (Sponsored by Sally Salon Services)

Higher National Certificate in Hair & Scalp Therapy

Student of the year

Sharon Rogan (Sponsored by Sally Salon Services)

ICT Practitioners

Foundation Degree in |Software Engineering

Christopher McMullan (Sponsored by Liberty Information Technology Ltd)

ICT Media and Publishing

Scott Lowry Memorial |Bursary Award

Jonathan Mitchell

Higher National Diploma in Multimedia

Callum Stewart (Sponsored by Nicholson and Bass)