CITY TRIBUNE
‘Confusion’ prompts NUIG rebrand
The Governing Authority of NUI Galway has approved the rebranding of the institution to ‘University of Galway’ from the end of the summer.
First mooted last year, the change has come about because of confusion over the name and a lack of ‘brand recognition’.
The official name will become ‘Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, University of Galway’.
President of NUIG, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said: “The decision to rename our University is something to which we have given a lot of thought and it is a decision which is being taken following detailed assessment of the issues and comprehensive consultation and internal discussion. We are extremely grateful to everyone who engaged in that work.
“This university has been in Galway and of Galway since the mid-nineteenth century. Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, University of Galway, gives a clearer sense of who we are as an institution and of being of our place. Galway is a place of industry and creativity, of citizenship and debate.
“As a community of scholars in a community of scholarship, we will continue this long and distinguished tradition and trajectory of curiosity, this ambition for our place and from this place, as we progress our values of respect, excellence, openness and sustainability, for the public good.
“The university is proud of the role it has played in Galway’s journey to become a global city. City and university have grown together and our new name encapsulates that history and is a promise for the future,” said Prof Ó hÓgartaigh.
As reported by the Galway City Tribune last November, research showed that the 1997 rebrand from UCG to NUIG had not “maximised the potential for this university” and that another name change had been “gestating for a number of years”.
Despite Galway’s hugely positive international reputation, the university was suffering a lack of brand identity and was not to the forefront of people’s minds relative to other Irish third level institutes.
NUIG was found to be sixth of seven in a table of the most recognisable university brands in the country – marginally ahead of Maynooth and Dublin Institute of Technology – and further research showed just three in 10 surveyed respondents, when asked ‘spontaneously’ to name Irish universities, mentioned it.
“Mistaken identity” has also been an issue for the university – it was found that more than 1,000 research papers were incorrectly affiliated to the National University of Ireland (Merrion Square in Dublin) rather than NUIG.
Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh, NUIG’s Vice President, told staff at the time: “When surveys have been done nationally, Galway as a city has actually got a very strong reputation that engenders a positive reception, much more so than Cork or Limerick, for example, and second only to Dublin. But NUI Galway, especially when it is truncated to NUIG, does not have the same brand recognition, because neither Galway nor university then becomes visible in the way that we are frequently referenced.
“Internationally, whilst the Ireland brand has been arguably beneficial, and we are looking at ways in which that can still have a presence in the international market, it is not one that has played for us in the home market or necessarily in the European market. So the idea is we leverage the university brand, we leverage the city of Galway.”
Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley
Galway City Councillors will resume deliberations on the Draft City Development Plan in June, which means two things: long meetings and an even longer list of abbreviations.
The former is a given when rezoning of land is at play; the latter is also likely if the City Plan mirrors the recently-agreed County Development Plan which contained an alphabet soup of shortened phrases.
From ABTA (Area Based Transport Assessment) to MASP (Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan), NWSMP (National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan) to GCTPS (Galway County Transport and Planning Study), and GCMA (Galway County Metropolitan Area) to UFP (Urban Framework Plan) to name but a few, County Councillors were bombarded with shorthand as they compiled a new Development Plan.
And that’s before you mention the myriad of organisations OPR (Office of Planning Regulator), OPW (Office of Public Works), NTA (National Transport Authority), TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) who were making submissions about MAs (Material Alterations), WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plants), LAPs (Local Area Plans), and LTP (Local Transport Plans) etcetera.
County Councillors needed qualifications in abbreviations and gobbledegook just to keep up with it all; many are now suffering a sort of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the DTs (Delirium Tremens) or AWD (Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium) since they finalised the plan, but that’s all due to withdrawal from abbreviations rather than alcohol.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Legendary singer/songwriter Andy Irvine will play the Gig Room in the Kinvara Community Centre next Saturday, May 28, at 8pm.
With an impressive repertoire of Irish songs and Balkan dance tunes, he is renowned for his unique fusion of Irish and World music.
Andy’s musical career took off when he joined Sweeney’s Men in 1965, touring extensively with them before leaving in 1968 to pursue his own musical journey. That took him to Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia, as he studied the music and traditions of these places.
During this time, he began playing the bouzouki professionally, as it allowed him to develop his own style while deepening his knowledge of Balkan music.
Back in Ireland Andy founded the now-legendary Planxty with Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Liam O’ Flynn. When the group took a break in 1967, he recorded an album with Paul Brady, simply entitled Andy Irvine & Paul Brady, which became a classic.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
The world premiere of E-Bow, a work for string quartet and electric guitar by composer Dave Flynn, will take place this Sunday, May 22, at 3pm at the O’Donoghue Theatre, NUIG. Admission is free and all are welcome.
E-Bow will be performed by Galway’s quartet in residence, ConTempo, and Dave Flynn himself. A work in three movements, it plays with the tradition of the guitar quintet, which dates back to the late 18th century, but brings it in new directions by using an electric guitar with the addition of an e-bow.
This is a hand-held electronic bow invented by Greg Heet in 1969 and patented in 1978, after which it became an essential tool for rock guitarists. Performers including Blondie, U2, Radiohead, Big Country, Genesis, Pink Floyd and R.E.M. have used them, but e-bows are less common in classical music because they don’t work on nylon-string classical guitars.
The work was co-commissioned by long-term commissioning partners Galway Music Residency (GMR) and Galway City Council and is being presented as part of Arts in Action, by GMR, in association with Dublin’s Contemporary Music Centre.
Sunday’s show will also include a performance of Philip Glass’ Mishima, arranged for string quartet and electric guitar, with special permission from the composer. Philip Glass composed this piece for the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, about Japanese author Yukio Mishima who died in November 1970 after performing Seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment).
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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