February 2003

Press release: 3 February, 2003 NUI Galway announces Awards for Outstanding Graduates The NUI Galway Alumni Awards will be presented at the Fourth Annual Gala Banquet in the Radisson SAS Hotel, on Saturday, 1 March, 2003. Funds raised at the banquet will support the University's Access Programme, which has been developed to provide educational opportunities for those whose socio-economic backgrounds have prevented them from participating in third-level education. Awards will be presented in five categories to graduates who have made a distinctive contribution in their chosen careers. Through the awards programme, the University recognises individual excellence among the more than 43,000 graduates worldwide. Hewlett-Packard Award for Literature, Communications and the Arts Sean McGinley, Actor McGinley has an impressive list of credits in film, theatre and television. His portrayal of Charlo in the four part television series Family brought him both critical and popular acclaim. His film credits include John Boorman s The General, Neil Jordan s The Butcher Boy and Michael Collins; Jim Sheridan s The Field and Mel Gibson s Oscar winning Braveheart. His theatre performances have won him Best Actor Award for Whistle In The Dark, and The Shaughran. McGinely currently plays Fergal Collins in the RTÉ original drama On Home Ground. ntl: Award for Engineering, IT and Mathematics John McGowan, Vice President Technology and Manufacturing Group, and Director, Corporate Services of Intel Ireland An Engineering graduate of 1970, McGowan has occupied senior management positions in Intel for many years. He is a fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, and a member of the Institute of Directors. The Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland honoured him with the Engineer of the Year Award in 2000. Intel has a major wafer fabrication facility in Leixlip, designated Ireland Fab Operations (IFO). Bank of Ireland Award for Business and Commerce Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Owner, Managing Director of Aer Arann Express. Ó Céidigh first worked as an accountant and later taught for several years in Coláiste Iognáid, Galway. He studied law and started his own legal practice in Galway City. In 1994, he purchased Aer Arann with Eugene O'Kelly when it was merely a passenger service, operating up to 25 flights per day between Connemara Regional Airport and the Aran Islands. Under their ownership, Aer Arann, now called Aer Aran Express, has expanded to become the fastest growing regional airline in Europe. Pádraig was recently named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 in Ireland. Medtronic AVE Award for Health Care and Medical Science Professor Maurice Manning, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Medical College of Ohio. A Science graduate of 1957, Dr. Manning has been doing peptide hormone research since 1961 and has worked with two Nobel Prizewinners at Cornell University Medical College and at Rockefeller University. His lab supplies scientists with molecules that are used in the investigation of various subjects, including hypertension, cancer, kidney disease, memory and childbirth. He holds 12 patents and his lab designed the original molecules that contributed to the development of a new drug — currently undergoing clinical trials — to prevent premature birth. There also is a peptide named after him, the Manning Compound, which blocks the actions of vasopressin (the hormone that affects blood pressure and body fluids) on the receptors in blood vessels. NUI Galway Award for Law, Public Service and Government: HE Sean O'hUiginn, Ambassador - Embassy of Ireland, Berlin After graduating from NUI Galway in 1967 with an MA degree, Sean O'hUiginn entered the Department of Foreign Affairs as a Third Secretary and moved through the ranks of the Department in various positions both in Ireland and abroad. While serving in the Anglo-Irish Division in the Department of Foreign Affairs, O'hUiginn was deeply instrumental in fostering the Irish peace process and the all-party negotiations in Northern Ireland that eventually resulted in the triumph of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. As ambassador to the United States (1997-2002), he continued to be closely involved in the implementation of the agreement. Ends Information from: Máire Mhic Uidhir, Press Officer, NUI Galway. Tel. 091-750418; Mobile: 087-2986592

Release date: 17 February, 2003 NUI Galway Symposium to explore Women's Voices in Islam The Women's Studies Centre at NUI Galway is hosting a Symposium entitled 'Exploring Islam: Women's Voices' at 10.00a.m. on Saturday 22 February 2003, in the Arts Millennium Building, NUI Galway. Panelists will include Professor Shaheen Ali (Warwick); Dr Fauzia Ahmad (Bristol); Dr Nancy Lindisfarne (London); Hebah Nashat (Galway); Nuria Dunne (Galway); and a representative from the Islamic Cultural Centre, Dublin. All are welcome to attend. The significant increase in the number of Muslims now living in Ireland has not been matched by an increase in an ability to comprehend the nature of the relationship between Muslims and their religion – particularly those living in non-Muslim countries – or the relationship between Muslims from different regions of the world. In the current political climate, in which there is an increasingly singular and homogeneous understanding of the usually negative differences between 'east' and 'west,' it seems more difficult than ever to explore the diversity of voices that make up the Islamic world. This diversity includes Islamic women who are often presented as having been silenced by their own belief systems, but who are, more often than not, actually silenced by misunderstanding and misinformation from non-Muslim sources. The Symposium is designed specifically to facilitate an exploration of the diversity of Muslim women's voices, and forms part of the Women's Studies Centre's commitment to promoting a better understanding of women and their relationship to the various societies in which they live. Ends Information from: Máire Mhic Uidhir, Press Officer, NUI Galway. Tel. 091-750418