The Galway branch of Soroptimist International has inaugurated an international scholarship in NUI Galway. The scholarship, valued at €1,250 was presented today (6 January) to BA International student Ms Elaine Scahill, Scoil na Gaeilge. The bursary will be presented annually to a student entering the third year (Year Abroad) of the University's BA International programme. Elaine, from An Cheathrú, Rua, Connemara. is spending her study abroad year in the University of Brest, Brittany.

In this first year of the bursary, Erasmus Students in the Faculty of Celtic Studies were invited to apply for the scholarship and to submit a 400-word personal statement in either Irish or English on the theme of 'Joy of Achievement,' this being one of the Soroptimists ideals.

Speaking at the presentation of the Scholarship, Professor John Marshall, Dean of the Faculty of Arts said: "We are delighted to acknowledge this enlightened initiative by Soroptimist International of Galway and look forward to developing a strong partnership with this organisation whose ideals are the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace."

At the end of her Erasmus period abroad when she returns to Ireland and as part of the conditions of the Scholarship, Elaine Scahill will write and present a 1,000-word essay on Women Survivors of War .

Ann Mitchell of the Galway branch of Soroptimist International explains that this topic was chosen because the current Soroptimist International project is Project Independence: Women Survivors of War. "The project aims to help women who have suffered the traumas of war, genocide and other horrors to reclaim their lives," she said. "The project aims to raise more than $1.2 million over the next four years to assist women survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Rwanda".

Ends