National University of Ireland, Galway has today announced two senior appointments to Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge. Seosamh Mac Donnacha has been appointed as Comhordaitheoir Acadúil (Academic Co-ordinator) of an tAcadaimh and Caitlín Nic an Ultaigh has been appointed as Ceannasaí Bainistíochta (Head of Management). Seosamh Mac Donnacha is from an Cheathrú Rua, Co. Galway. His current post is as Development Manager with Oifig na Gaeilge Labhartha at NUI Galway and he has previously worked with Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge and with Glór na nGael. Caitlín Nic an Ultaigh comes to NUI Galway from Comharchumann Shailearna Teo. where she has completed a three year period as Manager of the Co-operative. She has previously worked with Gaelscoileanna and with Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge. Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge is being established by NUI Galway to further develop the range of Irish-medium third level educational opportunities available on campus and in the University's Gaeltacht education centres. The mission of An tAcadamh is 'through academic and research activities, to demonstrate and inspire leadership in the Irish speaking community, within the Gaeltacht and elsewhere, and contribute to the social, cultural, economic and linguistic development of that community and of the country as a whole.' Ends

The second annual lecture series in memory of Martha Fox, who has supported the Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway, will take place this week and next in the United States. Dr. Niall Ó Cíosáin, of the University's History Department, will deliver a lecture on "Print and the Irish Language", in New York, Boston and Chicago on March 23, 25 and 29, respectively. Each lecture will be introduced by NUI Galway President, Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh. Upon her death in 1999, Martha Fox, a Wakefield Massachusetts schoolteacher, generously endowed NUI Galway with funding for Martha Fox House as home to the Centre for Irish Studies and for scholarship programmes. Her support provides the Centre with an opportunity to foster and develop institutional relationships with academic and civic institutions in the USA and to showcase and highlight aspects of the work of the University's Centre for Irish Studies. Dr. Ó Cíosáin's lecture will trace the culture of print in Irish and explore its complex relationship with the wider questions of language and cultural change. Ó Ciosáin has published Print and Popular Culture in Ireland, 1750-1850 (Macmillan/St Martin s Press 1997) and a number of articles on popular literature, printing and language shift in Ireland. Ends

Professor Chris McCrudden of Oxford University will deliver the Annual Distinguished Lecture in Law at NUI Galway on Friday 19th March 2004. His talk, entitled 'Buying Social Justice – the Role of Law', argues whether a State should exploit its market power to achieve ends other than purely economic ones. At present, there would appear to be extremely limited room for States and international organisations to demand a social perspective in their economic dealings with companies. McCrudden also traces the rise of the State both as a regulator of markets and a player in its own right. Dr Maurice Manning, President of the Human Rights Commission of Ireland, will deliver a formal response and is expected to address the plans of the Commission in the whole field of economic social and cultural rights. McCrudden will pose the question whether the primary role of law is to facilitate open markets or to temper market forces with considerations of social justice and will also review the current state of the law from international and European regional perspectives. Professor McCrudden is widely acknowledged as a leading thinker in the broad field of international trade law as well as non-discrimination law. His work has inspired the imposition of a novel duty on public bodies in Northern Ireland, to take positive steps to promote equality. For example, while the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is attempting to ensure that building contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, benefit local Iraqi workers, the World Bank (which is a major development aid donor), on the other hand, sharply limits the extent to which such a local preference can be given. In the late 1990s, the US Supreme Court ruled that Massachusetts did not have legal authority to force companies registered under Massachusetts law, not to do business in Burma which was widely regarded as an oppressive regime. Professor Gerard Quinn, Faculty of Law, NUI Galway says, "we are delighted to have someone of Professor McCrudden's international standing to inaugurate this important lecture series. Our vision is to raise important law reform issues in the public's mind through this series. We aim to make this series the premiere event on the legal calendar in the West of Ireland and to choose topics that have either a national or international significance." The lecture will take place at 7.00pm in the Arts Millennium Building. It will inaugurate a series of annual public lectures hosted by NUI Galway's Law Faculty and designed to highlight contemporary law reform issues of concern to the general public as well as the legal profession. Ends

A poster exhibition, illustrating the work of NUI Galway's third-year Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering students who have engaged in voluntary work, will open today (Monday), at 5.00 p.m., in the University Art Gallery. The posters are the product of an initiative, which encourages students to get involved in voluntary community-related activities. It is the first year of this project in which 50 students have participated. "Assignments that Inspire and Distinguish Engineers" (AIDE), is the title of the unique programme, which is the first of its kind in engineering in any university in Ireland. It is co-ordinated by Dr Abhay Pandit of the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. The project is part of the academic programme for students and is supported by the University's Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI), which is co-ordinated by Jacinta Barrins. It is designed to encourage students to voluntarily commit some of their time and energy to the benefit of local communities and individuals outside the family. The AIDE project included a number of lecture modules in which guest speakers addressed the students on the principles of volunteering, corporate and social responsibility, and the relevance of volunteering to the engineering profession. Students were then asked to identify a need in their locality and volunteer thirty hours of assistance towards it. "At first the students were sceptical of the relevance of the initiative to their lives," says Dr. Pandit. "They felt their only responsibility was to pass their exams and get on with their careers. Very quickly, however, they discovered that volunteering brought a very important dimension to their lives and that making a contribution to society by way of volunteering was a most fulfilling experience. The students also realised that they didn't have to look very far in their own communities to identify areas where a helping hand was needed." "We are planting a seed here", continues Dr. Pandit. "University students are in some form privileged and need to be aware of the social needs of their communities. They need to reach out across race, class and gender and share their skills and their time with people in need. We hope that participating in AIDE will make a lasting impression on them and make them responsive to the needs of whatever community they are part of throughout their lives." Some students got involved in groups such as Lions Clubs, Alzheimers groups, Cancer Care West and local sport groups, while others assisted people recovering from serious illnesses by providing support or building assistive devices.

Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President of NUI, Galway today (Tuesday) launched a major fundraising initiative entitled the People & Place Campaign, to secure €50million in private support for the continued development of the University. At an event to launch the campaign, the President, gave details of 24 projects, which will require a total investment of €250million over five years. Commenting at the launch of the campaign, Dr Ó Muircheartaigh said "We have facilities in this University that are in urgent need of investment and we require €250million to deliver on this development plan. NUI Galway is committed to delivering one-fifth of this investment from its own fundraising programme. Fundraising is not intended as a replacement for public funding but to provide seed capital for new areas of research and teaching and to make an often vital contribution toward major buildings and facilities," he said. Dr Ó Muircheartaigh also spoke about the need to remind people about the important role of philanthropy as an agent for change. "We have a job to do in Ireland to educate this generation to the benefits of philanthropy. We still lag behind the United States and other European countries in terms of our overall giving. In terms of this campaign, we are encouraging people to consider the private gain that comes from education and are in turn, urging them to give something back." The €250million development plan for NUI Galway is based on extensive consultation with faculty members and feedback from corporate and community partners. It includes major new buildings for engineering, business and law, as well as new research centres and student facilities. "This ambitious capital development plan can only be realised with financial support from Government and other sources", said Ó Muircheartaigh. New academic programmes to be funded include fine arts, film, music and a radical new initiative to provide recognition for student voluntarism. One of the major aims is to develop the Irish language centres in Gweedore, Carraroe and Carna. The People & Place Campaign will be led by Galway University Foundation (GUF) and will constitute an ongoing high profile outreach to graduates, friends and supporters worldwide. John McNamara, Chairman of GUF, said that a great deal of work had gone into planning the campaign and he was confident a strong team and mechanisms were in place to achieve the €50million goal. He extended an invitation to all who share an affection for Galway and who believe in a strong and vibrant University in the West of Ireland, to become involved in as meaningful a way as possible. Pledges and commitments totalling €27million, raised in the pre-launch phase of the campaign, were announced. Mr Gerry Hanley, Chairperson of the Alumni Association, said that graduates would be delighted to see the University drive forward in this way, as much of the physical infrastructure is in need of upgrading and investment. He invited the more than 50,000 graduates worldwide to participate themselves as donors. Tony McDonnell, President of the Students Union said that he was proud that the students (nearly 14,000 in total) had given their backing by endorsing in a recent referendum the payment of a levy which would help provide a key element of the financing for the new sports and cultural facilities. Further information is available on www.nuigalway.ie/foundation ends