June 2003 Preparations well underway for visit of Nelson Mandela

Preparations are at an advanced stage for the impending visit of Nelson Mandela to NUI Galway. The Nobel Laureate and former Prime Minister of South Africa will be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on Friday, 20 June 2003 at the University. It is expected that huge numbers of people will come on campus to welcome Mr Mandela on his historic visit to Galway.

Mr Mandela will arrive on campus at 5.30 pm. Members of the public are invited to view the arrival and the colourful academic procession from the Quadrangle to the conferring hall at Áras na Mac Léinn/Student Centre. Designated Viewing Areas will provide excellent vantage points for the public. Details of these locations, which will be supervised for crowd safety by the Gardaí, will be published in due course.

The ceremony will be relayed live to large screens in the Kirwan, Dillon and Larmor Theatres. Admission to these venues will be by ticket only. Tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis to members of the public and should be collected in person from Áras Fáilte, the University's Visitor and Information Centre, from Monday 9 June.

To mark this historic event, NUI Galway and HEAnet will host the first-ever live webcast from the campus. This will enable alumni, staff and friends all over the globe to enjoy this auspicious occasion. In order to access the live video-stream, log-on to www.nuigalway.ie/mandela for instructions and test page to check you can view the webcast.

"This is a momentous occasion for the University and for Galway," said Dr. Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President of NUI Galway. " We are delighted to be able to facilitate public access to the event and look forward to making this a memorable and exciting occasion for as many people as possible. Now approaching his eighty fifth birthday, Nelson Mandela is one of the world's greatest statesmen and it is a singular honour for us to welcome him to Galway."