Recent News

Launch of the Sexual Violence & Harassment Prevention & Response Policy, Dec 11th 2024

We welcomed, Noeline Blackwell to officially launch our Sexual Violence & Harassment Prevention & Response Policy.

Noeline Blackwell is a human rights lawyer and former CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (2016–2023), where she led efforts to prevent sexual violence, support survivors, and advocate for systemic reform. Previously, as Director General of FLAC (2005–2016), she championed equal access to justice and social change. She has been recognised with awards like Woman Lawyer of the Year (2014) and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from University College Dublin. Noeline has also served on influential committees of the Law Society of Ireland.

^{L:R Noeline Blackwell, Niamh Kavanagh, Dr. Helen Maher & Dr. Padraig MacNeela}

^{L:R Caitriona Gleeson (Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager ATU). Dr. Laura Loftus, Noeline Blackwell, Dr. Padraig MacNeela, Dr Helen Maher, Niamh Kavanagh (Policy Specialist), Niamh Gallagher & Saleha Al Sabahi} 

A talk by Pat O'Connor Dec 5th 2024

A talk by Pat O’Connor, emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Limerick, and Visiting Professor, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.

^{L:R: Prof. Pat O'Connor and Dr. Helen Maher}

Pat O’Connor is an academic insider who is an engaging, humorous and brutally honest speaker. Her memoir: ‘A ‘proper’ woman? One woman’s story of success and failure in academia’ (Peter Lang, 2024) was reviewed in the Irish Times and Sunday Independent, with an edited extract published in the UK Times Higher Education and a book launch at Kings College, London. A full professor and former Dean, she has published widely on higher education, its gendered processes and the gendered aspects of women’s lives over a 46-year academic career as she tried to create change in academia, organisationally, nationally and internationally.

Reading extracts from her memoir: ‘A ‘proper’ woman?’, she described the subtle and relentless processes of devaluation, margina­lisation and disempowerment that are often ‘nor­malised’ in academia. 

^{L:R Prof. Margaret Hodgins, Prof. Pat O'Connor and Dr. Helen Maher}

^{L:R: Margaret Forde, Dr Laura Loftus, Prof. Pat O'Connor, Aoife Cooke and Dr. Helen Maher}

 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence 

University of Galway is hosting a range of events for 16 days to mark the inaugural 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence  taking take place from the 25th November [International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women] to the 10th of December [Human Rights Day] across campus.  

University of Galway is collaborating with 15 other Higher Education Institutions across Ireland to make a powerful statement as part of this global campaign. Follow us on social media to stay updated on the national campaign and engage with our online content. 

Annual Sheehy Skeffington Event 2024-Diane Byrne

Finding the Courage to Fight
Our speaker Diane Byrne shared her story working with the Irish Army for 13 years at the Annual Sheehy Skeffington event held in the O'Donoghue Theatre, Nov 8th 2024. As spokesperson for the Women of Honour group, Diane has been a tireless advocate for transparency within the Irish Defence Forces, acting as a voice for victims and an advocate for victim-led approaches to securing truth and justice for women who were repeatedly failed by the Defence Forces. She has spoken openly about the personal impact of her own experiences, including on her mental health and is a passionate advocate for cultural change in the Defence Forces and across Irish society.

 _{Retired Army Captain Diane Byrne (Sheehy Skeffington Speaker), Prof Kate Kenny (Lecture Chair),  Prof Peter McHugh (Interim present), 
Dr Olivia McDermott )Academic co-chair of UWN), Prof Margaret Hodgins (former UWN academic co-chair).}

The Women of Honour are a group of current and former members of the Irish Defence Forces who were subjected to a range of abuses including sexual assaults, discrimination, bullying, misogyny, victimisation, and violence. On foot of an RTÉ radio documentary in 2021 and the group’s continuing efforts to highlight the abuses and injustices they have endured, an Independent Review Report was published in 2022, and a Tribunal of Inquiry opened in June 2024.

EDI Project Fund Oct 2024

The Office of the Vice President for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (OVPEDI) in collaboration with the Access Centre and the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Campus Committee (EDICC) is pleased to launch the 2024/25 EDI Project Fund. The fund is available to staff and students with grants normally ranging from €1,000 – €5,000.

Read more here

Start Here Campaign Sept 2024

As part of the Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response programme of work, we are running the #Starthere campaign from the 16th of September until the 14th of October 2024. Did you know that Active*Consent and USI’s 2020 National Sexual Experiences Survey revealed that 79% of college students who disclose sexual misconduct (rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment) told a close friend. Read more

_{Front Row: Rebecca Connolly (Sx Violence Coordinator), Niamh Kavanagh (Sx Violence Manager), Margaret Forde, Niamh Gallagher
Back Row: Owen Ward, Aksana Chzheuskaya, Helen Maher, Donal Leech, Josephine Hynes, Declan Coogan & Laura Loftus}

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Week Sept 2024)

The United Nations developed 17 sustainable development goals were developed to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. To celebrate the university's progress and impact on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the office of the Vice President for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion held a round-table coffee morning to discuss SDG5 Gender Equality and SDG10 Reduced Inequalities.

_{Front row: Dinali Wijeratne, Aoibhín Keighron, Sinead Beacom, Nyree Hill, Sarah Ann Buckley
Back row: Owen Ward, Helena Kenny, Pauline McNamara, Niamh Kavanagh, Laura Loftus, John Gill & Aoife Cooke}

Mincéirí Archives Launch August 2024

Mincéirí Archives is an archive of a growing collection of all types, complemented by historical documents and scholarly texts. This collection focuses on Irish Travellers from the 1960s when Ireland transformed socially, economically and culturally; its impacts on the nomadic indigenous community and the dawn of the Traveller rights movement in Ireland and Europe.  The collection contains items related to Traveller human rights, education, employment, housing, music, folklore and photographs of the community. In addition, it also includes material from current resources located within existing catalogues and collections including the Ritchie-Pickow and Joe Burke Collections.

The project began in November 2021 as part of the celebrations which followed on from the 175th anniversary of the foundation of the University in 1845. Led by Mr Owen Ward, EDI Programme Manager for Race Equality and Mr Kieran Hoare, Archivist, the research and digitisation of the Mincéirí Archives was one of six projects sponsored by the Office of the University President through a special fund to record and share our institutional history.

The archive was launched by President Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Dr Mary Warde Moriarty on Wednesday, 28th August at 11.30am in the Archives & Special Collections Reading Room, Hardiman Library, University of Galway.  

L:R  Owen Ward (Race Equality Manager), Dr Catriona Cannon, Head of Heritage Collections, Dr Mary Warde Moriarty,  President Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Ann Marie Stokes (Access office)