The NUI Galway 2010 Sports Awards were announced and presented at a special ceremony last night (Thursday, 25 March) in the Ardilaun House Hotel, Galway. It was a successful year for NUI Galway sport that included many International caps for students, a Fitzgibbon Cup win in Hurling and a narrow loss in the Collingwood Cup for Soccer. The individual award winners include Tipperary Hurler, Seamus Hennessy, Irish Women's Rugby back row from Mayo, Carol Staunton and Galway Footballer Gareth Bradshaw. Mary O Riordan, Vice-President for the Student Experience at NUI Galway, said: "Each year NUI Galway recognises the outstanding contribution of individual student athletes across many diverse sporting disciplines for their achievements in sport. This year's awards ceremony has been extended to reflect not only the achievements of individual students but also the contribution of the sports clubs to campus life and the importance of participation by all students in sport and recreation". Sports Connect, a leadership programme which culminated in a partnership between Sports Clubs, NUI Galway Alumni Office, the Student Volunteering programme (ALIVE), the Career Development Service and Student Services, was also recognised at the ceremony. Sandra Butler chair of the Alumni Board presented the Award to the winners the Ladies Hockey Club. The guest of honour for the evening was the recently retired Head of Sport at NUI Galway, Tony Regan. Tony instigated the sports awards in 1983 and it was appropriate that his enormous contribution, dedication and enthusiasm for more than 30 years be recognised by the University. A former Roscommon footballer he has also been a leading coach and trainer, who supported the development of sport in NUI Galway as well as numerous successful sporting careers. In spite of his retirement Tony continues to provide support to sport in NUI Galway. He was a selector for the NUI Galway Hurling team that ended its 30 year wait for a Fitzgibbon Cup win and who won the team award in this years NUI Galway Sports awards. The Club Captains Award recognises the enormous contribution of individual students to the successful running of sports clubs. The first recipients of these awards were David O'Reilly-Healy, a third year Commerce student as Snow Sports Captain and Jose Ramirez who is a second year Arts student and Captain of the Muay Thai Club. Most Improved Sports Club Recognition was awarded to the Badminton Club who raised the profile of their club through increasing student numbers, evaluating training methods and providing that key element of fun in all their training sessions. Sporting life on campus is not just for the Elite performers and this is reflected in the Outstanding Recreational Participation Award which was awarded to Frank Quinn, a second year Science student for his outstanding contribution to the development of Futsal. The Outstanding Recreational Participation Team Award was received by a team of postgraduate students known as the Red Devils captained by Neil Mc Donald. This year's Sports Awards recipients are: Archery: Joe Gill, Athlone, Co. Westmeath Athletics: Eilish Fitzpatrick, Newmarket, Co. Cork (First year Biomedical Physics) Boxing: Colin Whitla, Barna, Co.Galway (First year Engineering) Camogie: Attracta McPeake, Lavey Co. Derry (Third year Speech and Language Therapy) Hurling: Seamus Hennessy, Cloughjordan Co. Tipperary (Second year Science) Ladies Gaelic Football: Sarah Conneely, Dunmore, Co. Galway (First year Arts) Men's Gaelic Football: Gareth Bradshaw, Moycullen Co.Galway (Third year Arts) Mountaineering: Louis Mulloy, Westport, Co. Mayo (First year Engineering) Men's Soccer: Martin Conneely, Casla Co. Galway Ladies Rugby: Carol Staunton, Westport, Co. Mayo (Postgraduate Arts) Surfing: Ollie Flaherty, Lahinch, Co. Clare (Second year Earth and Ocean Sciences) Windsurfing: Katie McAnena, Salthill, Galway (Medicine) Team Award: Senior Hurling Fitzgibbon Cup Team. Team Award: Sailing Participation Award: Frank Quinn Club Captains Award: David O Reilly Healy Snow Sports, Foxrock, Dublin (Third Commerce) Club Captains Award: Jose Ramirez Muay Thai, Scariff, Co.Clare Most Improved Club Award: Badminton Club ENDS

Oxford University Press has published The International Criminal Court: a Commentary on the Rome Statute, written by Professor William Schabas, OC MRIA, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway. The book consists of an article-by-article review of the Rome Statute, taking into account the case law of the Court up to 1 July 2009, including academic writing on the subject in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Professor Schabas is one of the world's leading experts on the International Criminal Court and has been studying the Court since the early 1990s. He has participated in several of the Preparatory Committee sessions, as well as the Rome Conference in 1998. Professor Schabas is also the author of the best-selling Introduction to the International Criminal Court published by Cambridge University Press and soon to be released in its fourth edition. The new Commentary is a larger (1,350 pages) book aimed to be used mainly as a reference book by academics and professionals in the field. As the Court moves into its second decade of existence, both books will be important resources to assist the Court. Professor Schabas teaches at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, which has become internationally recognised in the field of human rights teaching, research and advocacy. This has enabled the institution to attract high quality students to its acclaimed MA programmes and doctoral research. Reflecting the growing interest in this field, the University has also now developed a Bachelor of Arts with Human Rights. The book will be launched on Tuesday, 30 March at 6pm at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway. Ends

The presentation of the third annual Donna Ferguson Memorial Award is to take place on Thursday, 25 March at 11.30am in the Siobhan McKenna Theatre, Arts Millennium Building at NUI Galway. The 2010 winner of the award is Eoin Ryan from Athlone, Co. Westmeath who achieved the highest mark in the broadcasting module of the MA Journalism. The presentation will be made by journalist, author and sportsman, Christy O' Connor. Donna Ferguson was posthumously conferred with an MA in Journalism at NUI Galway, following her untimely death in a car accident in December 2006. The Donna Ferguson Memorial Award was initiated by her family and community in Belleek, Co. Fermanagh, and commemorates Donna's achievements while she was a student on the journalism programme in 2006. The inaugural presentation of the award was made by Gay Byrne in 2008 and by Noirin Hegarty, Editor of the Sunday Tribune in 2009. Christy O' Connor is a journalism graduate of NUI Galway, a former inter county hurler with Clare and sports writer with The Sunday Times. He is also author of the critically acclaimed book on hurling Last Man Standing which was runner up in the Irish Sports Book of the Year Award 2005. He is currently working on a new book due out in October. The emphasis on sport at the presentation of the memorial award this year will highlight Donna's interest in sport as a Gaelic footballer for both NUI Galway and her home county of Fermanagh. Eoin Ryan graduated from the MA in Journalism with first class honours and now edits Ireland's most popular student website www.oxygen.ie, The Spanner satirical magazine, and also works as a freelance GAA reporter for national newspapers. Eoin also achieved first class honours in his final project entitled "The Birth of the GAA and its Founding Fathers". ENDS

Dr Alan Colman, a Principal Investigator in the A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology and Executive Director of the Singapore Stem Cell Consortium has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Fundamental Stem Cell Biology with the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway. Neurodegenerative and premature aging disease comprise a major focus of Dr Colman's work. His research involves developing induced pluripotent stem-cell-based laboratory models of human central nervous system diseases. Induced pluripotent stem cells are derived from adult fibroblasts and can be induced to have the ability to become any cell type in the body. Stem cells are a focus of interest because of their predicted potential to treat diseases by cell transplantation therapy. They are useful as models to study development and disease, as stem cells carrying or induced to carry defective genes can be investigated in vitro to understand disease characteristics. Modified cell lines can also be employed for drug screening towards developing novel pharmacological therapies. As Adjunct Professor at NUI Galway Dr Colman's laboratory will train researchers at REMEDI to make human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) using as the starting material skin biopsy material or other tissues (e.g. blood) that are available from human patients and volunteers. These iPS cells share many, if not all, the properties of human embryonic stem cells but are less controversial. iPS can be made from patients suffering from most congenital diseases and can be exploited both to learn more about the disease process as well as providing a virtually inexhaustible source of desired cell types for drug screening and discovery. Professor Tim O'Brien, Director of REMEDI states that the appointment of Alan Colman to an Adjunct Professorship at NUI Galway is very important for the strategic development of stem cell biology in Ireland. "Dr Coleman has substantial experience in iPS technology and the use of patient derived stem cells to understand human disease pathophysiology. This will lead to a greater understanding of disease and thus identification of new therapies. In addition iPS technology can be used for drug screening and in the future in donor specific cell transplantation. We are delighted that Alan has agreed to take up this position and look forward to collaborative work with the Singapore Stem Cell Institute". A graduate of Oxford University with a degree in Biochemistry, Colman earned a PhD under John Gurdon, a pioneer of the field of nuclear transfer, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. Dr Colman held a series of academic appointments in Oxford and Warwick Universities before becoming a Professor of Biochemistry in the University of Birmingham. The focus of his academic career was the area of eukaryotic protein secretion, with a particular emphasis on the use of frog oocytes and eggs as in vivo test tubes. In 1987 he was elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation. From 1987 until March 2002, he was research director of the company PPL Therapeutics in Edinburgh, UK. This company specialised in the production of transgenic livestock that produced human therapeutic proteins in their milk. PPL attracted considerable media attention because of its participation, together with the Roslin Institute, in the technique of somatic nuclear transfer. This work led to Dolly, the world s first sheep cloned from an adult somatic cell in1996. REMEDI researchers will be trained in Dr Colman's lab in Singapore where the technology is established. It is planned that researchers once trained will return to Ireland and via national collaborations will transfer the technology to Irish researchers. ENDS

Renowned author and academic, Professor Simon Chesterman, Global Professor and Director of the New York University School of Law Singapore Programme will open a conference co-hosted by The Irish Centre for Human Rights and The Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The event, entitled Corporations and Armed Conflict: The Role of International Humanitarian Law will take place from 9-10 April in the IT Building, NUI Galway. The conference aims to explore the extent to which International Human Rights Law, Humanitarian Law and Criminal Law are adequate to deal with the role of businesses operating in conflict zones, given existing gaps in the law, evolving norms, and attempts in various fora to hold private sector actors accountable. Delegates will be addressed by a diverse range of prominent speakers, scholars and practitioners including: Professor William Schabas, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway; Professor Doug Cassel of The University of Notre Dame; Andrew Clapham, Director of The Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights; Tricia Feeney, Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID); Seema Joshi, GlobalWitness; Dr Olga Martin Ortega, University of East London; Doug Brooks, President of The International Peace Operations Association (IPOA); Mark Taylor, FaFO; Professor Larissa van den Herik, Leiden University; and Professor Celia Wells, University of Bristol. Commenting on the upcoming event, Professor William Schabas, OC MRIA, and Director of the NUI Galway Irish Centre for Human Rights, said: "Businesses play an important but somewhat neglected role in human rights violations, and it is essential that new strategies be found to address the relevant issues. We are proud to host this conference, which brings together specialists who are at the cutting edge of research in this important field.' The Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway supports the study and promotion of human rights and humanitarian law at undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral level. Since its establishment in January 2000, the Centre has developed a global reputation for excellence in the field of human rights teaching, research and advocacy. The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights conducts and promotes scientific research, organises training courses and expert meetings and provides legal expertise in the branches of international law relating to situations of armed conflicts. Corporations and Armed Conflict: The Role of International Humanitarian Law will be of interest to human rights practitioners, academics, legal professionals and those working in the private sector. For further information, contact the conference organiser, Alexis Bushnell in the Irish Centre for Human Rights at a.bushnell1@nuigalway.ie. To reserve a place please register online at www.conference.ie -Ends-