The Shannon College of Hotel Management, which is part of Aer Rianta and has produced many distinguished graduates for the hotel and catering industry, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

This anniversary will be marked with an alumni ball, which has been sold out, at the Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin, tonight. A programme of 50th anniversary celebrations will see many events taking place later this year.

With tonight's alumni ball, the college's graduates will continue the strong networking tradition that's a hallmark of the college ever since it started. Graduates always keep in touch, wherever they are in the world.

Tourism remains one of Ireland's fastest growing and buoyant industries and the demand for hotel management personnel with third level qualifications from Shannon has never been stronger. Shannon graduates are equally in demand from the worldwide hotel industry; they have an unparalled reputation for excellence.

Working in the tourism industry needs a special blend of talents. People need to get on well with customers, have a good understanding of the practicalities of running an hotel and possess a good knowledge of modern business techniques. Although the hotel business may be unique in many ways, it still requires modern management techniques. All these qualities have been blended together in the Shannon college's graduates over the past half century.

The college continues to set high store by discipline and presentation in its students. Combining what they learn in Shannon and in hotels abroad during their training, they emerge from the college fully equipped for a challenging career in the hotel business.

Opportunities for young people in the hotel business are tremendous. It's hardly surprising that as soon as the next batch of graduates emerges from Shannon, they will be snapped up for junior management positions in Ireland and abroad. Many will have reached senior management positions by their late 20s.

The college director is Phillip Smyth. Aer Rianta makes a substantial contribution each year to the college's running and expansion, as one of its key commitments to the tourism industry in Ireland.

Dr Brendan O'Regan founded the college as part of the original Shannon sales and catering operation. Dr O'Regan is regarded as one of the most visionary people ever produced by the Irish tourism industry and many people describe him as the architect of the present good fortunes of the mid-west region.

HE set up the Shannon college in 1951 with just 12 students and a borrowed classroom. He had a vision of how the college should develop, in terms of practical and academic training. This was an educational approach to the tourism industry already well established in mainland Europe, but which was unknown in Ireland.

Sceptics and doubters are always with us and they were as vociferous then as now. The "doubting Thomases" said that the new college was an ambitious folly and that anyway, there weren't 12 jobs for trained hotel managers in Ireland. How wrong they were!

College graduates have long been in great demand by Irish and international hotel companies and groups. The demand for places at the college far exceeds supply, with about 500 applications received each year, with 50 students being taken on.

For many years, 1958 to 1985, the director of the college was Jrgen Blum, a renowned figure in tourism education, a mantle that is now in the keeping of Phillip Smyth, director since 1990.

Thanks to Mr Blum's continental contacts, work experience for the students became the norm in such countries as Germany and Switzerland; those experiences abroad gave students an enormous amount of confidence and that tradition of spending part of the course time abroad continues to this day. Whether it's in Britain, mainland Europe or the US, work experience is an essential part of the Shannon experience.

Over the years, the college has continued to expand and enhance its teaching. Back in 1991, it began its first bachelor of commerce degree programme in co-operation with what is now NUI Galway. The first degree students graduated in 1995, while the following year, the first postgraduate research programme started. Last year, the college joined the Central Applications Office, but Shannon still interviews students itself and does aptitude tests, with a certain amount of points being allocated in addition to those accruing from the Leaving Certificate.

From this coming September, when the Shannon College of Hotel Management will become a recognised college of the National University of Ireland, it will offer two degree courses. One will be a bachelor of business studies course, while the other will be a bachelor of commerce option.

While the qualifications offered by the college have moved up the scale to graduate level, at the same time, the physical facilities of the college have been greatly expanded.

Back in 1991, Aer Rianta and the European Union contributed £400,000 to the building of the first phase of a purpose-built campus. The second phase was opened last October and the third and final phase is now at planning permission stage. A further move came in 1994 when a separate charitable trust was set up to secure additional funding for further development of the college; the patron of this trust was Brendan O'Regan. The alumni association has been strong for over 10 years now and many members of the alumni association have played key roles in raising further funds for the college. The Shannon College 2000 alumni appeal was designed to give alumni the opportunity of helping Shannon maintain its premier position in hotel management training in the years ahead.

As president of the alumni association as this appeal was being launched, Dick Bourke of the Jurys Doyle Hotels group urged past pupils to help continue the Shannon college's unrivalled tradition of excellence.

Many people prominent in the industry, including alumni, continue to help actively in the college's development. Included on the development committee, for instance, are Mary Bowe of Marlfield House, Ray Carroll of the K Club and Rory Murphy of Ashford Castle.

Since 1995, the development committee has done sterling work in raising funds for the development of the campus. This fundraising has also been well supported by the hotel and related industries, as well as graduates and philanthropists, indication of the esteem in which the college is held.

The college board is chaired by Tadhg O'Donoghue, whose other positions include chairmanship of the ESB. Other board members include Margaret Sweeney, deputy chief executive of Aer Rianta, Shaun Quinn, chief executive of CERT, Rory Murphy and Peter Malone, former chief executive of Jurys Doyle Hotels group.

Phillip Smyth says that the students at the college work hard, playing hard too, with an active social and sporting programme at Shannon. He also says that the emphasis on discipline and presentation is as strong as ever. Once someone has graduated, they have huge opportunities in the business.

One current battle is to try and ensure that fees for students are abolished.

Comments Mr Smyth: "We feel that it's wrong that a college owned by the State should have its students pay fees." The college has already made a submission on this topic to the Department of Education and Science.

Expansion is always in the air at Shannon. Currently, the college has about 240 students, of whom some 50 come from outside Ireland. The present plan is to increase student numbers to around 400.