NUI Galway invites graduates from the classes of 1999 and 2004 to attend a Reunion BBQ on Saturday, 6 June. The Reunion BBQ will begin at 7pm in the Students' Union Bar overlooking the River Corrib, with entertainment provided by DJ Brick Flanders. JB Terrins, Director of Alumni Relations at NUI Galway, encourages alumni to come along: "Reunions are a wonderful opportunity for graduates to revisit NUI Galway and renew old acquaintances. Many alumni from the classes of 5 and 10 years ago have already booked their places. You never know who you will meet, so our reunion attendees never regret making the effort". The Alumni Association at NUI Galway serves 70,000 alumni worldwide with an extensive range of programmes administered by the Alumni Office. These include national and international clubs, publications, reunions and alumni awards. Graduates interested in any of these programmes, or those who want to reconnect with their old classmates, are encouraged to contact the Alumni Office for further details. For further information please contact Colm O'Dwyer in the Alumni Office on 091 493750 or email alumni@nuigalway.ie or visit the reunion website www.nuigalway.ie/alumni/reunion09.html -Ends-

Photographs of Irish lighthouses, taken at the turn of the 20th century, feature in an exhibition taking place in the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway. The maritime-themed exhibition 'Safety for all' coincides with the visit of the Volvo Ocean Race to Galway, and will continue until 30 June. The photographs were taken by the well-known Irish astronomer and mathematician Sir Robert Ball (1840-1913) who was the scientific advisor to the Commissioners of Irish Lights for almost thirty years. Images in the exhibition come from a collection donated by the Commissioners of Irish Lights to the National Photographic Archives. John Cox, Acting-Librarian at the James Hardiman Library, said: "This is a beautiful exhibition. It includes panoramic views of Irish quays, coastlines and islands. It also offers unique insights into early 20th century social life in coastal areas through informal portraits of lighthouse keepers and their families. We also have pictures from the construction work on the Fastnet Lighthouse, which show the dangerous working conditions for those involved". 'Safety for All' also contains photographs depicting the rather unusual landings which had to be undertaken by lighthouse inspectors. In the absence of landing jetties, inspection teams were often lifted ashore from their ships by the lighthouse keepers, using manually operated derricks. Additional aspects of the exhibition include material held by the Special Collections and Archives departments of the James Hardiman Library. These photographs are taken from the Balfour Album of 1892, which was created by folklorist Robert J. Welch as a gift to the former Chief Secretary of Ireland Arthur J. Balfour. Also on view are images from the Ritchie Pickow Photographic Archive taken between 1952 and 1953 by American photographer George Pickow, and the Heinrich Becker Archive which includes photographs taken in Ireland from the 1940s to the 1980s. The James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway is open in the summer month from 8.30am to 5.30pm, but closed on bank holidays, Saturdays and Sundays. The exhibition is free and all are welcome. -Ends-

Five Irish universities have come together to form a new network called Campus Engage for the promotion of civic engagement activities in higher education. Campus Engage will hold its inaugural conference 'Higher Education and Civic Engagement Partnerships: Create, Challenge, Change' from 4-5 June in Croke Park. The partners in the network, which is led by NUI Galway, are UL, NUI Maynooth, UCD and DCU. The conference has attracted over 200 international higher education academics and administrators, people involved in community-based organisations, and students. The event will explore how community-university partnerships can be further developed in Ireland by showcasing local and international examples. NUI Galway's Lorraine McIlrath is Principal Investigator with Campus Engage: "The development of Campus Engage has been sparked by other international networks, such as Campus Compact, a coalition formed in the 1980s by US universities. This conference is an opportunity to learn more from international examples and to share what is happening here in Ireland across all campuses. Recent international trends include, for example, President Obama's plan to require undergraduate students to give 100 hours of academic service to communities. Only by cultivating a sense of civic responsibility which permeates throughout all our educational institutions, and only by empowering all students with a sense of social justice and the capacity for civic engagement, can we ensure that our graduates go on to be ethical citizens, and ultimately enhance democratic society". The conference will provide a forum to discuss the rationale of university-community partnerships in the context of Irish higher education, exchange information about international models, and debate practical issues about implementing partnerships. It will also examine the effectiveness of these models of partnership in influencing policy and bringing about social change. The conference will be addressed by international and national experts. Keynote speakers from Ireland include: Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, Life President of Focus Ireland and founder of the Young Social Innovators; Mary O'Malley, poet and member of Aosdána; Fergus Finlay, Chief Executive of Barnardos; Professor Pat Dolan, UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement at NUI Galway; and Professor Alan Smith, UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy, University of Ulster, Coleraine. International speakers will come from Argentina, Australia, USA and the UK, and include Professor María Nieves Tapia, Academic Director of the Latin American Centre for Service Learning in South America, and Professor Michael Cuthill, Director of the University of Queensland Boilerhouse for Community Engagement Centre, Australia. Further information is also available at the conference website www.campusengage.ie/conference or from Ann Lyons at the Conference Secretariat, NUI Galway on 091 492228 or info@campusengage.ie. -Ends-

American Conference for Irish Studies 2009 Second Galway Conference of Irish Studies 2009 Over four days in June this summer, the Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway will host one of the largest conferences in the humanities in Ireland this year. In his note of welcome to conference delegates, Professor Kevin Barry, Dean of Arts at NUI Galway, comments that the range of papers and diversity of plenary events presented at the conference 'bring together momentarily in one place the passion and attentiveness to displacement that marks Irish Studies'. Speakers from a dozen countries, representing over 100 universities will present up to 250 papers examining themes relating to contemporary Irish culture and society. Delegates attending the American Conference of Irish Studies (ACIS) in conjunction with the Second Galway Conference of Irish Studies (GCIS) will consider issues relating to the key themes of the dynamics of immigration and settlement in modern Ireland, and the concept of the 'everyday' in Irish life and culture. The opening evening of the conference will feature a roundtable discussion on inward migration to Ireland over the past decade chaired by Donncha O'Connell, former director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and a member of the Law School at NUI Galway. Donncha will be joined by Des Geraghty, President of SIPTU from 1994 to 2002 and former member of the European Parliament, Denise Charlton, chief executive of the Immigration Council of Ireland, and Chinedu Onyejelem, editor of Metro Éireann. A highlight of the joint conference is the Public Interview Series with three key figures who have made significant contributions to Irish public life over the past half-century, chaired by renowned RTÉ broadcaster John Quinn. TK Whitaker, whose vision for economic development in the 1950s marked a major shift in Ireland's self-fashioning, Bernadette McAliskey, a central figure in the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland and a trenchant critic of the Good Friday Agreement, and Cardinal Cahal Daly, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh, one of the most influential figures in recent history of the Catholic Church in Ireland will be in conversation with John Quinn over the course of three afternoons. One of Ireland's outstanding historians, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, NUI Galway, will examine the dynamics of the Irish experience of emigration in his plenary lecture, 'Unity and Diversity? Considering the Irish Diaspora'. Other keynote events include the launch of the Siobhán McKenna Collection at the James Hardiman Library, and a celebration of sean-nós song and dance hosted by the Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4 broadcaster, Máirtín Tom Sheáinín. Readings featuring resident and visiting writers co-ordinated by the Over the Edge literary organisation will take place each evening at the Galway City Library and Sheridan's Wine Bar. The conference is free to all members of the public. For further details see www.nuigalway.ie/cis or contact Ms Samantha Williams at 091-492051. -Ends-

(Leagan Gaeilge) NUI Galway's ALIVE programme has had a huge response to its call for volunteers for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Galway. A significant percentage of the 750 volunteers who will be the face of the two-week free festival are NUI Galway students. Earlier this month, NUI Galway was announced as the partner of the Volunteers Programme for the event. The University will bring its considerable experience in the field of volunteering and work with non-profit event organiser Let s Do It Galway to help mobilise the small army of volunteers required. As Ireland s leading University in the development of student volunteering initiatives, NUI Galway supports thousands of students who volunteer with community organisations every year. The volunteering drive for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover is a natural extension of this ethos of civic engagement. Lorraine Tansey is Student Volunteer Coordinator at NUI Galway and runs the University s ALIVE programme: "The response among our students has been phenomenal. On the day we put the official call out we had 200 immediate queries, so the students are really getting behind the ethos of Let s Do It Galway". Volunteers will have a wide range of roles in the event, from working in the media centre, to helping out backstage at the free concerts, to providing information for the hundreds of thousands of visitor expected at the Race Village. Fiona Lawless, NUI Galway graduate and Volunteers Manager with Let s Do It Galway, has said: "Volunteers will be key to the success of the Galway Stopover and are the face of the event to visitors at the Festival's Race Village. During the event volunteers will be the heart and soul of the festivities". Toradh Iontach ar Thóraíocht Oibrithe Deonacha Volvo (View in English) Bhí an-toradh ar an ngairm a rinne clár ALIVE OÉ Gaillimh ar oibrithe deonacha do stad na Gaillimhe de Rás Aigéin Volvo. Is mic léinn de chuid OÉ Gaillimh iad céatadán suntasach den 750 oibrí deonach - 'éadan' na féile coicíse saoir in aisce. Níos luaithe an mhí seo, fógraíodh gurbh í OÉ Gaillimh comhpháirtí Chlár Oibrithe Deonacha na féile. Cuirfidh an Ollscoil an taithí leathan atá aici i réimse na hoibre deonaí ar fáil agus oibreoidh sí le lucht eagair neamhbhrabúsach an imeachta, Let's Do It Galway, le cuidiú leis an mbaicle bheag oibrithe deonacha a bheidh de dhíth. Ós í an Ollscoil seo an ollscoil is gníomhaí sa tír ó thaobh tionscnaimh dheonacha a fhorbairt, tacaíonn OÉ Gaillimh leis na mílte mac léinn a oibríonn go deonach le heagraíochtaí pobail gach bliain. Is céim eile chun cinn in éiteas an chomhpháirteachais phoiblí an bhéim atáthar a chur ar obair dheonach do stad Rás Aigéin Volvo. Is í Lorraine Tansey Comhordaitheoir Obair Dheonach na Mac Léinn in OÉ Gaillimh agus tá sí i mbun chlár ALIVE na hOllscoile: "Tá sé dochreidte an chaoi ar fhreagair na mic léinn don ghairm. An lá a ndearnamar an ghairm oifigiúil fuaireamar 200 fiosrú láithreach bonn, rud a léiríonn go bhfuil na mic léinn ag tacú go hiomlán le héiteas Let's Do It Galway". Beidh róil éagsúla ag oibrithe deonacha san fhéile, idir a bheith ag obair i lárionad na meán, lámh chúnta a thabhairt ar chúl an stáitse ag na ceolchoirmeacha saor in aisce, agus eolas a chur ar fáil do na céadta mílte cuairteoir a bhfuiltear ag súil leo i Sráidbhaile an Rása. Seo an méid a bhí le rá ag Fiona Lawless, céimí de chuid OÉ Gaillimh agus Bainisteoir Oibrithe Deonacha Let's Do It Galway: "Beidh an rath a bheidh ar Stad na Gaillimhe den Rás ag brath go huile agus go hiomlán ar na hoibrithe deonacha mar gurb iad a gcuid 'éadan' siúd a fheicfidh agus a aithneoidh cuairteoirí ar Shráidbhaile an Rása. Cuirfidh na hoibrithe deonacha a gcroí agus a n-anam i gceiliúradh na féile." -Críoch-