NUI Galway's Alumni Association has announced a memorial arts award in honour of the late Jerome Hynes, one of the University's most distinguished graduates who passed away last year.

The Jerome Hynes Award for Best One Act Play recognises the outstanding contribution Jerome Hynes (BA 1980, HDip in Ed 1981, LLB 1988) made to the Arts both nationally and internationally as Chief Executive of Wexford Festival Opera for 17 years and as a member of An Chomhairle Ealaion/The Arts Council. The award is presented during the University's Springtime Arts Festival, Múscailt.

The inaugural Jerome Hynes Award for Best One Act Play, sponsored by the University's Alumni Association, was presented by Alma Hynes, Jerome s widow, to the cast and crew of Basin of Myself, an original play written, directed and performed entirely by NUI Galway students. The play was one of 10 performed as part of this year's Múscailt Festival.

The presentation piece was created by the renowned sculptor John Coll, a former winner of the NUI Galway Alumni Award for Literature, Communication and the Arts. The University has also commissioned a larger piece by John Coll in memory of Jerome, which will be unveiled in the Bank of Ireland Theatre later this year.