News

The ‘Pint of Science’ international Festival will take place in Galway from 18-19 May. During the Festival a fantastic line of up of scientists will engage the public with the latest in science research in an accessible format. ‘Pint of Science’ is the largest festival of science globally, running concurrently in multiple pubs across eight countries in 50 cities. More than 20 leading and developing scientists, mostly from NUI Galway and affiliated institutes and centres, will meet the general public to talk about the research advances in their field. Panel discussions will follow presentations from three to four researchers on each night. A wide variety of topics will cover recent progress in understanding human diseases, technologies to treat them, as well as the impact of technology on the future of our society and the role of water in our lives and in our future. Created in 2012 by a group of UK postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, ‘Pint of Science’ is a non-profit organisation involving scientists on a voluntary basis. Internationally it takes place in the UK, USA, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Australia. Established in 2013 by Seán Mac Fhearraigh, ‘Pint of Science Ireland’ is running for the second time in Dublin, and for the first time in Galway and Limerick. A detailed programme of ‘Pint of Science Galway’ covering the themes human body, technology and planet Earth is available at www.pintofscience.ie or follow ‘Pint of Science Galway’ on Facebook. Tickets are free and must be booked online to attend. -Ends-

NUI Galway’s School of Business and Economics, together with Casla Home Care, has announced details of a free day-long seminar-based event for entrepreneurs at the University on Friday, 22 May. Sponsored by Casla Home Care, Bank of Ireland, Sharkey Consulting and Enterprise Ireland, the event focuses on persons across the broad spectrum of entrepreneurial activity. From those at the idea stage who want to learn more about how to develop further, to young start-ups seeking to grow and become sustainable, to well-established entrepreneurs trying to improve their businesses. The event will provide an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship in a number of highly discursive and interactive sessions, as well as opportunities to network with key entrepreneurs and educators. Teams of educators and entrepreneurs will run sessions across areas such as sustainability, financing, growth, negotiation skills, talent acquisition, decision making, networking, and customer centricity. Some of the facilitators will include; Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Casla Home Care and Aer Arann; Barry O’Sullivan, AltoCloud and Dragons’ Den; James Murphy, Lifes2Good; James Cunningham, Connemara Food Ventures; and John O’Dea, Crosspon. The event will also include a sports panel with Gavin Duffy, Joe Connolly and Mike Geraghty who will deal with developing the individual. To register for the event, visit www.entrepreneurshipatwork.org. -Ends-

A free public lecture entitled ‘Take my advice, go to Mongan’s Hotel: Sport, Charity, and Tourism in Late-Victorian Connemara’ will be held in Galway city on Monday, 11 May at 7 pm. The lecture will be delivered by Dr Kevin James, Associate Professor of History at the University of Guelph, Ontario, and will take place in the Galway City Library in Augustine St, under the auspices of NUI Galway’s Moore Institute. Mongan's Hotel in Carna, Co. Galway, was an historic site of pilgrimage for the sporting tourist in the nineteenth century, and served as a social, commercial, and cultural hub of the district. In the 1890s, initiatives aimed at alleviating distress and developing the district's economy highlighted the important role of the hotel and its proprietor, Martin Mongan. He forged connections between the locality and organisations and markets farther afield – notably in Manchester. The evidence appears in the hotel's historic visitors' book. This public lecture will look at how Mongan’s provided a venue for tourism, a magnet for sports enthusiasts, and a site for charitable activity. Professor Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway, said: “Kevin James’s work has opened up new vistas on the history of travel to Co. Galway. Visitors’ books offer an intriguing glimpse into a lost world in the nineteenth century.” Dr Kevin James is author of Tourism, Land and Landscape in Ireland: The Commodification of Culture. In spring 2014, he held a Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowship to support his research at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway. For more information contact : Dr John Cunningham, Department of History, NUI Galway at john.cunningham@nuigalway.ie or phone 091 493902. -Ends-