Portráid nochta in Aula Maxima na hOllscoile mar chomhartha ómóis dá bhfuil déanta ag an iarbhreitheamh don institiúid sin  Tugadh ómós don Bhreitheamh Catherine McGuinness in OÉ Gaillimh nuair a nochtadh portráid choimisiúnaithe di san Ollscoil. Bhí an breitheamh Cúirte Uachtaraí atá ar scor ina Cathaoirleach ar Údarás na hOllscoile ó ceapadh í i mí Feabhra 2013 go dtí Eanáir 2021. Rinneadh coimisiúnú ar leith ar an ealaíontóir mór le rá Hetty Lawlor le portráid den Bhreitheamh McGuinness a tharraingt, mar cheiliúradh ar a raibh déanta aici do OÉ Gaillimh. Bhí Catherine McGuinness ina Cathaoirleach ar Údarás na hOllscoile ar feadh ocht mbliana agus threoraigh sí an Ollscoil trí thréimhse shuntasach forbartha. Faoina stiúir, rinneadh athrú ó bhonn ar champais OÉ Gaillimh, cuireadh go leor áiseanna nua teagaisc agus taighde ar fáil, tháinig méaduithe suntasacha ar líon na mac léinn agus fás tapa ar fheidhmíocht agus ar phróifíl taighde na hOllscoile go hidirnáisiúnta.  Agus é ag nochtadh an tsaothair ealaíne, thréaslaigh Uachtarán OÉ Gaillimh, an tOllamh Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, a gairm bheatha agus a cuid abhcóideachta leis an mBreitheamh McGuinness. “Léirítear sa phortráid seo cineáltas agus eagna Catherine McGuinness, tréithe a roinn sí linne in OÉ Gaillimh agus a léirigh sí ina saol agus ina gairm bheatha. In OÉ Gaillimh is mór againn ár gcuid luachanna - meas, oscailteacht, barr feabhais agus inbhuanaitheacht. Is é an aidhm atá againn ná go mbeadh na luachanna sin dár dtreorú inár gcuid oibre mar phobal agus ar mhaithe le leas an phobail. Is mór an phribhléid é a bheith ag obair le duine ar léiriú cruthanta ar na luachanna sin a saol agus a gairm bheatha,” a dúirt an tOllamh Ó hÓgartaigh. “Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an mBreitheamh McGuinness as an tacaíocht mheáite a thug sí agus as a léargas fíorluachmhar - an cineáltas agus an ghaois - nuair a bhí Údarás na hOllscoile faoina stiúir ar feadh blianta fada." Bhí an méid seo le rá ag an mBreitheamh McGuinness: “Ba mhór an onóir é a bheith ag obair le OÉ Gaillimh agus cúnamh beag a thabhairt don dul chun cinn iontach atá déanta ag an Ollscoil le blianta beaga anuas. Is mór an onóir dom freisin aitheantas buan a bheith léirithe dom leis an bportráid seo. Táim buíoch díobh siúd ar fad a raibh sé d’ádh orm oibriú leo agus guím gach rath ar an ollscoil sa teagasc agus san fhoghlaim, sa saol acadúil agus sa taighde agus san obair ar son leas an phobail.” Bhí an méid seo le rá ag an Dr Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Cathaoirleach reatha Údarás na hOllscoile, OÉ Gaillimh: “Bhí taithí uathúil ag an mBreitheamh McGuinness agus í ag tabhairt faoina ról mar Chathaoirleach Údarás na hOllscoile. Bhain sí éachtaí amach ina gairm bheatha sular ceapadh í ar Údarás na hOllscoile. B’iarSheanadóir í agus bhí sí i mbun gníomhaíochais ar feadh a saoil. Rinne sí a cuid oibre go críonna mar Bhreitheamh sa Chúirt Chuarda, san Ard-Chúirt agus sa Chúirt Uachtarach. Cheap an tUachtarán Pádraig Ó hIrghile agus an tUachtarán Micheál D. Ó hUigínn araon í ina ball den Chomhairle Stáit. D’fheidhmigh sí ar an nGníomhaireacht um Chomhionannas Fostaíochta, ar an bhFóram um Shíocháin agus Athmhuintearas agus bhí sí ina pátrún ar Chomhairle Teifeach na hÉireann.  Bhí taithí ar leith aici agus léirigh sí cumas breithiúnais ar leith agus í i ról an Chathaoirligh. Tá an Ollscoil faoi chomaoin aici as an obair agus an tiomantas a léirigh sí dá lán den fhorbairt atá déanta inti ó 2013 i leith.” Tá Údarás na hOllscoile, Údarás Rialaithe OÉ Gaillimh, freagrach as maoirsiú a dhéanamh ar ghnóthaí na hollscoile agus tá sé freagrach as rialachas iomlán na hOllscoile, de réir Acht na nOllscoileanna, 1997. Tugann sé ceannaireacht agus treoir straitéiseach leanúnach chun go n-éireoidh leis an Ollscoil a misean oideachais agus taighde a chur i gcrích. Críoch

Portrait unveiled at University’s Aula Maxima to mark former judge’s contribution to the institution  Judge Catherine McGuinness has been honoured by NUI Galway with the unveiling of a specially commissioned portrait at the University.  The retired Supreme Court judge served as Chair of Údarás na hOllscoile – the University’s Governing Authority – from her appointment in February 2013 until January 2021. Judge McGuinness’s portrait, by award-winning artist Hetty Lawlor, was specially commissioned to mark her exceptional contribution to NUI Galway. Catherine McGuinness served as Cathaoirleach of Údarás na hOllscoile for eight years and guided the University through a significant period in its development. Under her stewardship NUI Galway saw the transformation of its campuses, with the addition of many new facilities for teaching and research, significant increases in student numbers and rapid growth in the University’s research performance and profile internationally. Unveiling the artwork, President of NUI Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh paid tribute to Judge McGuinness’s career and advocacy. “This portrait captures the kindness and wisdom of Catherine McGuinness, attributes which she brought to us at NUI Galway and to her life and career. At NUI Galway our values - respect, openness, excellence and sustainability - are important to us. Our aim is that they are the lodestar for all our work as a community and for the public good. It is a privilege to have worked with someone whose life and career is the very embodiment of the essence of those values,” Professor Ó hÓgartaigh said.  “I want to thank Judge McGuinness for the steady support and invaluable insight - the kindness and wisdom - she brought to the role and the stewardship of Údarás na hOllscoile -  our Governing Authority - for many years.” Judge McGuinness said: “It has been a huge honour to have worked with NUI Galway and to have helped in a small measure with the tremendous progress the University has made in recent years. I am also honoured to be permanently recognised with a portrait. I am grateful to all those I was fortunate enough to work with and I wish the university every success in teaching and learning, in academia and research and working for the public good.” Dr Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, current Chairperson of Údarás na hOllscoile, NUI Galway, said: “Judge McGuinness brought a unique experience to her role as chair of Údarás na hOllscoile. She came to the Údarás after a stellar career. She was a former Senator and a lifelong activist. She served with distinction as a Judge of the Circuit, High and Supreme Courts. She was appointed as a member of the Council of State by both President Patrick Hillery and President Michael D. Higgins. She served on the Employment Equality Agency, the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation and became patron of the Irish Refugee Council.  She brought a unique breadth of experience and judgement to the role of Cathaoirleach and the University is indebted to her for the work and dedication she showed to so much of its development since 2013." Údarás na hOllscoile, the Governing Authority of NUI Galway, is responsible for overseeing the affairs of the university and is charged with the overall governance of the University, in accordance with the Universities Act 1997. It provides active strategic direction and leadership to enable the University to succeed in its mission of education and research. Ends 

NUI Galway has selected six projects by current and retired staff to showcase the breadth of the history of the institution.  NUI Galway was established in 1845 as Queen’s College Galway, and following construction of the iconic Quadrangle building, the University opened its doors four years later to the first cohort of just 68 students.   The six projects selected aim to draw on the history and heritage of the institution and to deepen its connection to the community and its focus on working for public good. Following the announcement of the six projects NUI Galway President Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said: “I am particularly pleased that these research projects are rooted in our university community in all of its diversity. They include research on the history of LGBTQ in our university, as well as that of the Irish Traveller community here. They draw on the collective memory of our retired staff, who hold so much institutional knowledge and social history of this place.  “The projects include the beginning of Irish language scholarship in the university through the figure of Tomás Ó Máille, as well as the development of our Library and archives – both of which set this university apart. And they engage students in using the most up-to-date technologies to record our current shape and size for future scholars.” The initiative to select six projects follows on from the celebration of the university’s 175th anniversary in 2020.  They are:  Culture and Citizenship: Tomás Ó Máille by Professor Lillis Ó Laoire and Dr Deirdre Ní Chonghaile  This exhibition celebrates the life and work of Professor Tomás Ó Máille (1880-1938), Galway's first Professor of Irish from 1909 to 1938. A folklore collector, linguist, newspaper editor, one-time Irish Volunteer and founding member of An Taibhdhearc, he is best known for his books An Béal Beo and An tIomaire Rua.  Ó Máille recorded hundreds of wax cylinders - recently digitized - of songs and stories from Irish speakers from every county west of the Shannon.  A key figure in the emergence of the modern Irish state, culture and citizenship are the cornerstones of Ó Máille's legacy.  The exhibition will run in the Hardiman Research Building from September 16 until December before touring. Exploring LGBTQ+ Lives at NUI Galway by Dr Declan Coogan and NUI Galway LGBT+ Staff Network Committee The key question this project will seek to answer is who/what were the people, places and events within or led by our university that influenced progress on human rights for LGBTQ+ people?  The project will also ask about the issues that remain to be resolved and co-develop strategies the university and partners might adopt to promote future progress.  MincéirsArchive – An Online Digital Archive of the Irish Travelling Community by Owen Ward, the Traveller History and Culture Sub-Working Group, Mincéirs Misl'd in Education Committee, Mincéirs Whiden Society, and Kieran Hoare, NUI Galway Library This is a digital archive of a growing collection of all types, complemented by historical documents and scholarly texts.  It will illustrate NUI Galway’s positive relationship with the Irish Traveller community, enhancing our university’s reputation as a champion for equality, inclusion and diversity.  The collection will include items from numerous archives and the team are making a public call for donations of historical materials linked to Traveller culture. History of the Library in 100 Objects by Marie Boran, Caitriona Cannon, Geraldine Curtin, Patricia Ffrench and Emma Goode, with assistance from Eimhin Joyce and NUI Galway Library The Library opened in 1849, with the distinguished scholar and historian, James Hardiman, as the first librarian.  One hundred objects will be chosen from collections - including books, manuscripts, archival collections, letters, photographs, newspaper issues, library furniture, stationery or artefacts - to tell its story. A Virtual and Tactile Record of the NUI Galway Campus Today by Eileen Kennedy and MakerSpace student volunteers Drone photography and photogrammetry will be used to generate a snapshot of the University campus as it stands, 177 years since its founding, and create a 3d virtual campus map. A Visual History Archive for NUI Galway: The Retired Staff Collection by Professor Jane Conroy, Professor Gerard Jennings, and Dr Séamus Mac Mathúna on behalf of the Retired Staff Association/Agallamh na Seanórach Drawing on private collections of photographs and film, this project will create a visual record of the University’s past. It will be the first university in Ireland to document and preserve its history and the history of its people and community in this way.  Ends