This year's NUIG Gala Banquet will celebrate sport as its main theme.

The 2008 Gala Banquet will focus on the university's commitment to and long history of sport on campus.

According to the college, the majority of students find their membership and/or involvement in sport significantly enhances their NUI, Galway experience, with many benefits in terms of health, physical fitness, camaraderie and personal development and a useful aid in balancing the pressures of academic life. Combining with the sports theme, Galway hurling superstar and former GAA President Joe MacDonagh will receive the Aer Arann Award for Sports Achievement and Leadership on the night.

Speaking on the 2008 Gala Banquet, Professor Ger Hurley, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs, NUI Galway, said, "Our intention at NUI Galway is to offer sport for all and to encourage all students to benefit from the resources which are provided on campus ? facilities which are continually being improved as is evident with the development of the new Sports Centre. The emphasis placed on involving students in sport underlines the ethos of NUI Galway - that our students and their wellbeing are our primary responsibility.

"Given the theme of Gala Banquet 2008, this year we have, through the generous sponsorship of Aer Arann, added an eighth award ? the Aer Arann Alumni Award for Sports Achievement and Leadership."

One of the highlights of the evening, which has established itself as a premier national event and one of the key social occasions in the West of Ireland, is the presentation of the annual Alumni Awards.

These awards celebrate the life-long value of an NUI Galway education and recognise individual excellence and achievement among the University's more than 65,000 graduates worldwide.

The winners of the eight alumni awards to be presented at Gala 2008 include: Gráinne Seoige who will receive the Duais Hewlett Packard don Ghaeilge award, John Ryan, who will receive the TBD Award for Engineering, IT and Mathematics, the Bank of Ireland Award for Business and Commerce will go to Brian Joyce, Chairman, Clancourt Holdings, the Seavite Award for Natural Science will be awarded to Dr Peter Heffernan,CEO of the Marine Institute; the AIB Award for Literature, Communication and the Arts will be awarded to Julian Gough, Novelist and Musician; Seamus Brennan, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism will be awarded the NUI Galway Award for Law, Public Service and Government and the Medtronic Award for Healthcare and Medical Science will be awarded to Dr Frank Giles, Chief of the Division of Haematology and Medical Oncology at the San Antonio Cancer Institute.

The award ceremony will be held in the Radisson SAS Hotel on Saturday 1 March 2008.

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