Broadcaster Marty Morrissey to be joined by sailor, surgeon, psychologist and chef at annual UCC alumni awards

Marty Morrissey’s 30-year career in sports broadcasting is to be recognised by University College Cork on Friday along side the achievements of sailor Naomi James, chef Ross Lewis, psychologist, Dr Maureen Gaffney and surgeon, Professor Calvin Coffey.

Broadcaster Marty Morrissey to be joined by sailor, surgeon, psychologist and chef at annual UCC alumni awards

Marty Morrissey’s 30-year career in sports broadcasting is to be recognised by University College Cork on Friday along side the achievements of sailor Naomi James, chef Ross Lewis, psychologist, Dr Maureen Gaffney and surgeon, Professor Calvin Coffey.

Mr Morrissey was born in Mallow and raised until he was ten in the Bronx in New York, before returning with his family to live in Co Clare.

He graduated with an Arts degree from UCC in 1980. He was a goalkeeper with the university’s Gaelic Football Club and played in both the Sigerson and Cork County Football Championships.

Other UCC alumni being recognised for their achievements on Friday night will be Naomi James, the first woman to sail solo around the world via the treacherous Cape Horn route, Ireland’s renowned Michelin starred chef, Ross Lewis, one of the country’s best-known psychologists, Dr Maureen Gaffney and a pioneering surgeon, Professor Calvin Coffey.

Reflecting on his career this week the RTE favourite recalled: “My first ever commentary was on the back of a tractor and trailer. I'd love to say I had a great plan. This was all an accident".

Morrissey joined RTÉ in 1989, has been a member of ‘The Sunday Game’ team for 30 years and commented on every All Ireland Hurling Final on TV and radio since 2012.

The former Clare county player revealed how he was initially refused by RTÉ.

“I started applying to RTÉ and the more they refused me, the more I wanted it and finally I got my chance three years later, and here I am today! As I said, an accident!”

Naomi James was the first woman to sail solo around the world via the treacherous Cape Horn route. She departed Devon on 9 September 1977 and began her adventure aboard the 53-foot yacht, Express Crusader.

During her voyage, she once nearly lost her mast, capsized and had no radio for several weeks. After 272 days she completed her challenge, and on the 8th June 1978 became the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn.

Speaking about her decision to undertake this spectacular feat of human endurance, James says; "For forty years I didn’t know why I made the decision to sail around the world single-handed. Finally, I understand that I had to prove to myself that I was alive, and that I couldn’t die.”

In recognition of her achievements, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 was the subject of the British TV show, This Is Your Life. After her voyage, she moved to Cork with her husband, who tragically died in a sailing accident ten days before their baby was born. She found solace in a return to education, graduating with a BA in 1997 from UCC, completing an MA in Philosophy at UCC, and later a PhD from Milltown Institute.

UCC Dairy Science graduate, Ross Lewis, is renowned for championing the best of Irish artisan food produce at his Michelin starred restaurant, Chapter One.

After working in the restaurant industry in New York, London and Switzerland, Lewis returned to Ireland to open Chapter in 1992. The restaurant has gone on to win numerous awards, including a Michelin star awarded since 2007 and in 2017, the Restaurant Association of Ireland’s top award of Best Restaurant in Ireland. He achieved the ultimate accolade when he was asked to cook for Queen Elizabeth II’s banquet in 2011, the recipes from which are included in the book, Chapter One - An Irish Food Story, published in 2013.

He was Commissioner General for Eurotoques Ireland from 2001 to 2004 and sat as a member of the Taste Council of Ireland. Both organisations are dedicated to promoting the use of organic and artisan locally produced ingredients, which Lewis himself includes in the menus created at Chapter One.

It is not surprising then, that Lewis has strong views on the importance of educating children about food.

“Teaching children about how to eat and how to cook is in my opinion a fundamental life skill that directly affects physical and therefore mental health. By not teaching our children at school one of the most important life skills then regretfully we are missing an opportunity that will have implications for the rest of their lives.”

Dr Maureen Gaffney graduated with a BA in Psychology from UCC in 1968. Today Maureen is a well-known psychologist, broadcaster, and writer. She was a columnist for the Irish Times and is the author of the best-selling books, ‘Flourishing’ and ‘The Way We Live Now’.

Speaking about how modern life has impacted our health and wellbeing, Gaffney says; “The single biggest factor in my view is distraction - much of it self-created by addiction to smart phones, social media and the cult of convenience. The result? Cognitive over-load, chronic low-level stress and rushed, distracted close relationships”.

Professor Calvin Coffey, recently made headlines around the world when he and his researchers reclassified part of the human digestive system, the mesentery, as a new organ. This discovery led to updates in Gray’s Anatomy and Langmans’ Medical Embryology, and featured in Time Magazine, National Geographic, CNN and the Guinness Book of Records.

This discovery led to updates in Gray’s Anatomy and Langmans’ Medical Embryology, and featured in Time Magazine, National Geographic, CNN and the Guinness Book of Records. The impact of his research is ground-breaking. As Coffey explained|: “Identifying the mesentery as an organ clarifies what we are and how we are made up. It re-orientates human biology and by extension, clinical practice”. Coffey qualified with a degree in Medicine from UCC in 1998 and completed his PhD in 2005.

The Alumni Achievement awards dinner is an annual celebration by UCC of its alumni, last year’s winners included Glamour Editor-in-Chief, Samantha Barry and Máirín Hughes, UCC’s oldest known Science graduate at the spritely age of 104.

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