UCC hosts visit by new German ambassador

Last week, UCC hosted the new German ambassador, David Gill, during his first visit to Cork.

Welcomed formally to the University by UCC’s president, Professor John O’Halloran, Mr Gill signed the visitors’ book and was presented with a piece of oak from a storm-fallen campus tree engraved with his name in Ogham script.

Prof O’Halloran and vice-president of global engagement, Professor Ursula Kilkelly, briefed Mr Gill on the history of the university, its commitment to diversity and sustainability, and the importance of international relationships to the institution.

Also in attendance, Dr Rachel MagShamhráin, head of the Department of German, spoke of the department’s work in fostering the relationship between Ireland and Germany, and in educating Irish students as linguistics, European citizens, and cultural ambassadors since the department’s foundation in 1909.

“For more than a century we have provided a bridge between Germany and Ireland in Cork,” Dr MagShamhráin said.

“As we head into the 250th anniversary of modern languages in 2026, the German Department in UCC looks forward to another century of cultivating German-Irish connections through education.” The ambassador then visited the German Department, where he met students and staff, and formally opened a student exhibition on the German author Heinrich von Kleist.

Mr Gill spoke to students about their programmes of study, their reasons for choosing the subject of German and their career plans.

UCC has 53 staff members from Germany, and has mobility partnerships with 38 German higher-education institutions.

Germany is Ireland’s third largest trading partner globally, and its largest EU trading partner.

Trade between the two countries has more than doubled over the last decade and is currently worth over €60bn.

Approximately 38,000 people are employed by Irish companies in Germany.

Germany is Ireland’s third largest tourism market with an estimated 446,400 German visitors to Ireland last year alone.

Cork has been twinned with the city of Cologne since 1988.

In her address to the ambassador at the German Department, Dr MagShamhráin emphasised the particular importance of Irish-German relations, not just in terms of economic benefits, but also in the context of recent global political developments.