Sarah Hartnett, UL Foundation, UL student and scholarship recipient Martin “Beanz” Warde, Professor Shane Kilcommins, Dean AHSS at UL and Fergal Quinn, Course Director of MA in Journalism at UL
Thursday, 30 September 2021

The University of Limerick Foundation has awarded a Traveller Community scholarship to Irish comedian and presenter, Martin “Beanz” Warde, to complete an MA in Journalism at the University of Limerick.

Martin who has a growing profile in the media, is a powerful advocate for human rights.

Speaking about the award, he said: “I’m delighted to have been awarded this scholarship, as I feel that it’s important for Irish media to be more diverse, drawing on marginalised voices in order to more accurately report on news. Up until now, all journalist perspectives about have been from outside the Travelling Community, so hopefully my vantage point as Traveller will help to remedy this.”

Dr Fergal Quinn, Course Director of the MA in Journalism, said: “Martin is the first person from the Travelling Community to have applied for our MA in Journalism since its inception, and that in itself is indicative of the access and cultural issues that inhibit participation by the Traveller community in the media. His regular, high quality, multimedia output and commitment to doing journalism make him a very worthy recipient of this scholarship.”

Speaking about the award, Sarah Hartnett, Director of Development at the UL Foundation, said: “We are delighted to offer this scholarship to help empower marginalised communities and facilitate better representation at third level. We will make every effort to raise the funds to continue with this scholarship in the next academic year”.

To find out more about supporting a scholarship for marginalised groups, please contact: sarah.hartnett@ul.ie.