Two educators from Derry have been awarded Fulbright scholarships for the 2026-27 academic year, enabling them to teach and research in the United States.

The awards were presented at a ceremony in Dublin by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the US Embassy.

Caitlin Harkin, a teacher in Irish medium education, will take up a Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship at The College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where she will teach Irish. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Irish from Queen’s University Belfast and has taught at several Irish-language schools in Northern Ireland, most recently at Gaelcholáiste Dhoire.

Professor Peter Ferry, a professor of English literature at the University of Stavanger in Norway, has been named a Fulbright Scholar at Ohio State University. He will join the Project Narrative research group to continue his work on American author George Saunders and to advance his own research group, Understanding MEN: Masculinity, Empathy, Narrative. His past books include studies on masculinity in American fiction.

The Fulbright Program, managed in Ireland by the Ireland-US Commission for Educational Exchange since 1957, supports academic and cultural exchange between the two countries. US Ambassador Edward S. Walsh said the programme strengthens the close relationship shared by the US and Ireland, highlighting the awardees’ commitment to cultural exchange and innovative research.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill also congratulated the recipients, noting Fulbright scholars’ significant contributions to innovation and public health. Commission board chair Professor Derek O’Keeffe and executive director Dr Dara FitzGerald extended congratulations, with FitzGerald welcoming the new awardees into a global alumni network of experts.