Also commemorated at the event were recipients of the Government of Ireland Scholarship programme which provides funding to students from key trade partners.

Speaking at the event  Kenny commended the success of the Student Ambassador Programme and “the valuable work of promoting Ireland to international students, the importance of which has been recognised by the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs” and thanked “the outstanding group of young people from around the world who are playing a crucial role in developing cultural and diplomatic links with other countries and building Ireland’s reputation as an education destination”.

According to The Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn, Education in Ireland’s online presence has grown significantly since the programme began

In its third year, the Student Ambassador programme has more than doubled in size with almost 50 student participants from ten countries including Brazil, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Canada and Malaysia.

Managed by Enterprise Ireland, students work to promote Ireland as a study destination via blogs, videos, tweets, podcasts and articles.

According to The Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn, Education in Ireland’s online presence has grown significantly since the programme began.

“In January 2012 we had 42,000 interactions with the Education in Ireland brand, as of April 2014 this has increased to over 1 million and we know that your activity on social media has had a lot to do with this,” he told students at the ceremony.

On behalf of the Department of Education and Skills, scholarship recepients from Brazil, China and India were recognised as part of the Government of Ireland Scholarship progarmme launched last year to develop  “cultural and diplomatic links with emerging markets”.

John Hennessy, Chair of the Higher Education Authority said the scholarship programme is focussed on more than providing funding for students to study and research in Ireland.

“Crucially it is about working with the leaders of the future in key regions of the world at a very important stage in their career development – young people who will be to the fore in industry, academia and government in their homelands in the not too distant future,” he commented.