Dr. John Kenny pictured at the opening address of the John McGahern International Seminar in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim which took place from the 26-28 July, 2007. The inaugural John McGahern International Seminar will be officially opened tonight (Thursday, 25 July), by Dr. Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President, National University of Ireland, Galway, in the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. The opening address, John McGahern: The Novel and the Story, will be given by Professor Declan Kiberd, University College Dublin. Speaking at the opening, Dr Ó Muircheartaigh said; "John McGahern enjoyed a progressively deepening association with our University, over a period of almost 50 years. From a brief period of initial undergraduate studies in 1953 which is so beautifully described in his acclaimed novel, The Dark, he later held positions as a teacher on Creative Writing and Irish Studies Summer Programmes; and eventually became an honorary doctor of the University in 1994 and Adjunct Professor of Irish Studies in 2001. "In 2003, John chose the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway to be the repository of his Archive, a complete collection of his papers and writings, providing an unparalleled view into a unique literary life. It is entirely fitting, therefore, that to commemorate John McGahern and his life's work, Leitrim County Council and NUI Galway have come together in partnership to organise and launch this inaugural International Seminar here in County Leitrim this evening." Damian Brennan, Cathaoirleach, Leitrim County Council remarked; "Our aim is to bring people closer to the work of John McGahern and, the decision of NUI Galway to commit to this partnership in Leitrim underpins that aim of continuing the dialogue between the place in which John McGahern lived and the university with which he shared his life's work." Speakers during the International Seminar will include Prof. Sylvie Mikowski, University of Reims, France; Dr. James Whyte, Presentation College, Headford, Co. Galway; Dr. Eamon Maher, I.T. Tallaght; and Fr. Liam Kelly, Cavan. There will also be a panel discussion including journalists Susan McKay and Belinda McKeon. Seminar sessions will be held in Carrick-on-Shannon, Aughawillan, Ballinamore and Mohill. The Seminar will also include a boat trip on the Shannon and Boyle rivers and a bus tour of the Aughawillan/Ballinamore area. Further lecture topics at the Seminar include: Amongst McGahern's Women; John McGahern: The Local and the Ordinary and John McGahern and Religion. A series of excerpt readings by actress Ms Marie Mullen will also feature throughout the seminar as well as a viewing of the documentary film John McGahern: A Private World. A detailed schedule for the Seminar can be downloaded from www.nuigalway.ie/iss/John_McGahern.html ENDS

Bunófar Scoil Cosliachta den chéad uair riamh in Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh. Cuirfidh an Scoil an chéad fhochéim chosliachta sa Stát ar bun agus beidh BSc (Onóracha) i gCosliacht le bronnadh ar chéimithe an chúrsa. Féadfaidh mic léinn iarratas a dhéanamh ar áit ar an gcúrsa ceithre bliana don bhliain acadúil 2008-9 ar aghaidh agus tá sé i gceist glacadh le 25 mac léinn gach bliain. Cuirfidh Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte Clinic Cosliachta ar bun in Ospidéil Réigiúnacha na Gaillimhe ag Páirc na Muirlinne ach is seirbhísí d'othair sa phobal is mó atá i gceist. Beidh comhoibriú idir an Clinic agus an Scoil chun oiliúint agus oideachas cliniciúil an chláir a chur ar fáil. Is iad Dámh an Leighis agus na nEolaíochtaí Sláinte, OÉ Gaillimh, Cúram Pobail agus Leanúnach Príomhúil na Gaillimhe (PCCC) agus Ospidéil Réigiúnacha na Gaillimhe a d'ullmhaigh an tairiscint seo. Ag labhairt dó i ndiaidh na fógartha, dúirt an tOllamh Jim Browne, Meabhránaí agus Uachtaráin Ionaid, OÉ Gaillimh: "Tá an-áthas orainn anseo in OÉ Gaillimh gur roghnaíodh an Ollscoil seo chun an chéad Scoil Cosliachta i bPoblacht na hÉireann a bhunú. Léiríonn an fhorbairt seo in Iarthar na Tíre an dul chun cinn atá déanta ag Dámh an Leighis agus na nEolaíochtaí Sláinte agus ag Scoil na dTeiripí a bhfuil cláir chreidiúnaithe den scoth á gcur ar fáil acu cheana i dTeiripe Shaothair agus Teiripe Urlabhra agus Theanga. Ba mhaith leis an Ollscoil buíochas a ghlacadh le Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte, Limistéar an Iarthair as a gcomhoibriú le fada an lá agus buíochas freisin leis na coslianna gairmiúla i nGaillimh a bhfuil tacaíocht ghníomhach tugtha acu dúinn, gan iad ní bhunófaí an Scoil seo." Fógraíodh bunú na Scoile i ndiaidh comórtas a d'eagraigh an tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas. Rinneadh sé thairiscint ar an gconradh chun an Scoil a bhunú agus mhol painéal idirnáisiúnta an conradh a thabhairt do OÉ Gaillimh. D'aithin Tuarascáil FÁS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit Healthcare Skills Monitoring Report, i Lúnasa 2005 gur gairm í an chosliacht a bhfuil easnamh fadtréimhseach inti agus moladh sa Tuarascáil go mbunófaí BSc i gCosliacht. Críoch

A School of Podiatry will be established for the first time at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The School will offer the first undergraduate podiatry programme available in the State and will lead to a BSc (Hons) in Podiatry. Students can apply for entry to the four year course from the academic year 2008-9 onwards and an annual intake of 25 students is planned. A Podiatry Clinic will be developed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) located in the Merlin Park campus of Galway Regional Hospitals but will primarily provide services to community based patients. The Clinic will work in partnership with the School to provide for the clinical education and training components of the programme. This bid was jointly prepared and presented by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences NUI Galway, Galway Primary Community and Continuing Care (PCCC) and Galway Regional Hospitals. Speaking following the announcement, Professor Jim Browne, Registrar and Deputy President, NUI Galway said: "NUI Galway is delighted to have been chosen as the location for the first School of Podiatry in the Republic of Ireland. This welcome development for the West of Ireland reflects well on the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the School of Therapies which already provide excellent accredited programmes in Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy. The University acknowledges the longstanding co-operation of HSE West and especially the active support of the professional podiatrists in Galway, without whom this would not have been possible." The announcement follows a competition organised by the Higher Education Authority in which six bids were received for the establishment of the School and an international panel recommended awarding the contract to NUI Galway. The FÁS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit Healthcare Skills Monitoring Report of August 2005 identified podiatry as an occupation with long-term supply shortfalls and recommended that a BSc in Podiatry be established. Ends

Pictured at the installation of NUI Galway's Automated External Defibrilator are from left: Alice Daly, NUI Galway Safety Officer; Billy Conroy, Civil Defence Instructor; Melissa O Hea and Anne Marie Flannery, Occupational First Aiders; and Mr Keith Warnock, Director of Safety & Vice President for Physical Resources, NUI Galway. NUI Galway's Student Health Unit, in conjunction with the University has recently installed an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on campus, to be deployed in the event of someone having a cardiac arrest. The purpose of the AED pilot project is to have a readily accessible defibrillator on campus to deliver an electric shock(s) to a casualty (where required) to help restore a normal heart rhythm. When someone receives prompt defibrillation in conjunction with proper Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) within minutes of a cardiac arrest, their chances of survival are greatly increased. AED's are designed specifically to meet the needs of non-medical rescuers and are simple to use and safe to operate. Studies have shown that in areas where defibrillators are accessible within the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, survival rates increase to as much as 50%. Within the University currently six (6) staff at the Student Health Unit and ten (10) Occupational First Aiders are trained in the use of the AED, which is based in the student centre, Áras na Mac Léinn. NUI Galway Health and Safety Officer, Alice Daly explains the significance of having an AED on the campus. "NUI Galway in conjunction with the Student Health Unit (SHU) has acquired this defibrillator so that in the event of a critical cardiac condition occurring to staff, students, visitors or others we will have the ability to provide early defibrillation on campus while the emergency services are en-route," she said. "This is a very important first aid development, and relies on the co-operation of the trained staff and the awareness of all NUI Galway staff, students and others in being prepared to respond to any such potential first aid emergencies in their local areas." The provision of AEDs in Universities and Colleges is one of the immediate-medium term recommendations of the 2006 Report of the Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Death, and NUI Galway is the fourth Irish University to have an AED on site. The provision of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in workplaces is a recommended (but not yet required) critical first aid measure to increase the survival rates of people who have some form of critical coronary heart disease condition e.g. a cardiac arrest while at work. It is one of the four steps in the recommended chain of survival. The objective of this "chain" is to significantly increase people's chances of survival from such cardiac conditions, which remains the major cause of death in Ireland causing approximately 5,000 deaths annually. ENDS

From left Edel Ní Chureáin, Head of Radió na Gaeltachta; Daráine Ní Mhaoilchichíl and Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President, NUI Galway. Edel Ní Chuireáin, Head of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, will present the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Gold Medal at a ceremony in the President's Office in the National University of Ireland, Galway today (Monday, 12.30 pm). Daráine Ní Mhaoilmhichíl has won the Raidió na Gaeltachta Gold Medal for achieving the highest standard on the Ard-Dioplóma i gCumarsáid Fheidhmeach in the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2006. Dr. Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, NUI Galway President and Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge's Auditor said at the award "On behalf of the National University of Ireland, I would like to congratulate Daráine on receiving the RTÉ Raidió na Gealtachta Gold Medal for her academic achievements, her exceptional work, her diligence and merit as a student on the Ard-Dioplóma i gCumarsáid Fheidhmeach here in the National University of Ireland, Galway". Daráine is from Co. Meath. She graduated from Dublin City University in 2004 with a Degree in Communications. She spent periods of work experience with the television production company Telegael and with RTÉ. She is currently working as a researcher with RTÉ on The Summer Den. In 2002, she was awarded the ESB/Rehab Young Person of the Year Award and she is a member of the State Council, working in an advisory capacity to the President. "During the year, Daráine excelled on the Ard-Dioplóma i gCumarsáid Fheidhmeach and we were very impressed by her imagination, efforts and energy while she was on the course" said the Administrator of the Aonad Cumarsáide, Rónán Ó Dubhthaigh. The Gold Medal, sponsored by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, is awarded every year to the person who most excels on the Ard-Dioplóma i gCumarsáid Fheidhmeach. This course provides students with practical experience in radio and television as well as training in the Irish language, Law and Computer Skills. The students' whole development throughout the course is taken into consideration as well as their academic achievements. The Ard-Dioplóma i gCumarsáid Fheidhmeach, being held by Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, was established thirteen years ago and former winners of the Gold Medal are working with RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta as well as other organisations such as TG4, RTÉ (in radio and television), BBC Northern Ireland and Ros na Rún. Ends