The new bachelor of business studies degree at University College Dublin (UCD) was conferred on a group of mature students last week. Obtained through distance learning, the degrees were the result of a joint initiative of the faculty of commerce, UCD and the Irish Congress of Trades Unions. The 42 graduates, the first to get the degree, have an average age of 43. All work full-time in a variety of public and private sector employments as well as trade unions. The top three students in this graduating class of 2000 were Dolores Geary, Cork IT; Maeve Caraher, Blackrock, Co Louth, of the ESB; and Eoin Ronayne, Dublin, of the National Union of Journalists.