Scholarship honours murdered German student

The parents of Thomas Heinrich, the German student who was stabbed to death in Dublin two years ago, have announced the latest recipient of a sholarship in his memory.

Wolfgang Heinrich and Alexandra Thom-Heinrich yesterday visited Griffith College, Dublin, where their son had studied, to make the presentation to Vaida Balbieriute.

From Lithuania, she is graduating this year from her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Visual Media at the Dublin college. The scholarship will enable her to do a masters degree at the Macromedia School for Media and Communication (MHMK) in Munich, starting in October.

The Thomas Heinrich Scholarship, funded by the Heinrich family along with Griffith College and (MHMK), is now in its second year. Due to run for another three years, it is aimed at helping talented students gain further access to education and international experience.

Music

Mr Heinrich (22) was an MHMK undergraduate student in media management with a specialisation in music management.

He had been studying in Dublin on the Erasmus programme in December 2012 when he was fatally assaulted on St Anthony’s Road in Rialto.

A friend and fellow German student Robert Rinker (25) was also stabbed but survived the attack.

Griffith College said Mr Heinrich “is remembered as an enthusiastic, caring, broad-minded, vivacious young man with exceptionally strong interpersonal skills. This scholarship programme was created with the shared belief that cross-cultural understanding and co-operation are the foundations of peaceful co-existence”.