November NUI Galway Winter Conferral Ceremonies and Honorary Degree Recipients

Over 6,000 Students to Graduate

Over 6,000 students will graduate from NUI Galway at the University's winter conferring ceremonies, which take place from Saturday, 9 November to Wednesday, 20 November. NUI Galway has also announced the names of those to be conferred with Honorary Degrees at the 2019 Winter Conferring.

The eleven individuals to be conferred with Honorary Degrees are: 

• Seamus O’Grady – Retired Director of Adult and Continuing Education at NUI Galway
• Shelley McNamara – Director of Grafton Architects
• Yvonne Farrell – Director of Grafton Architects
• Orla Guerin – Broadcaster and journalist with the BBC
• Cathal Goan – Broadcaster, journalist, editor and former Director General of RTÉ
• Mary Gordon – Founder/President of Roots of Empathy
• Paul Farrell – Country Manager for IBM
• Nuala Ward – LGBT+ activist and advocate
• Fergus Finlay – Retired CEO of Barnardos
• John Ging – Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
• Breandán Feiritéar – Broadcaster and former Head of Raidió na Gaeltachta and TV, film and radio producer for RTÉ and TG4

Speaking on the announcement, NUI Galway President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said: “NUI Galway is fortunate to be associated with many outstanding honorary graduates throughout its history and those being honoured this year form a particularly distinguished group. Each one has made an excellent and distinctive contribution to the diverse fields of adult and continuing education; children’s rights, journalism and broadcasting; international social entrepreneurship; research, development and innovation; activism for social change; contribution to society, human rights and our defence forces. NUI Galway is very pleased to be in a position to respect and recognise these exceptional individuals. Each of those we honour also have a special bond with our region - drawing on the unique experiences, strengths and challenges with which we as a University also engage – our proud record of achievement in widening access to education, this year marking the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of Adult and Continuing Education; our strong association with the Defence Forces since 1969; our profile on international human rights, and our emphasis on creativity and innovation. In honouring these exceptional individuals, we also signal what we value in areas that matter to us and to our society. We are delighted that our honorary graduands are being honoured at the same time as we celebrate the achievements of over 6,000 of our students across our four Colleges. On behalf of NUI Galway, I am delighted to honour all of our graduates and their achievements, a great occasion for everyone involved.”

The Adult Learning and Professional Development conferring sessions taking place on Saturday, 9 November, at 11am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm. The conferring ceremonies from 11 to 20 November will take place at 11am and 3pm each day.

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