The Awards Night was designed to come together to celebrate the academic and extra curricular achievements of the previous year. Our guest speaker on the night was Deirdre O’ Connor, a past pupil of Coláiste Muire Cobh. Deirdre O’ Connor is a managing director at Och-Ziff Capital Management. Previously, she was a managing director in the Investment Management Division at Goldman Sachs. She was a controller of Goldman Sachs Investment Strategies, responsible for $150 billion in assets under management. Deirdre says that she is “extremely proud of her Irish heritage”, and calls it “the foundation upon which she approaches life and work. Key values ingrained in the Irish culture are hard work, building long term relationships, and sharing lessons learned with the next generation”.

Her awe inspiring speech captured the minds of both old and young in the room and highlighted that with commitment and dedication how easily success may come.