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Minister Quinn opens two new buildings at NUI Galway on official visit to Galway

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., is opening the Hardiman Research Building and a new Psychology Building in NUI Galway on an official visit to the county today. The two buildings cost in the region of €18 million in total and are a welcome addition to the campus.

The Hardiman Research Building was formerly known as the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Building on the campus. It accommodates the Moore Institute and the Whitaker Institute and will deliver a research agenda focused on integrating humanities, social studies, business and law.

This facility will provide accommodation for 300 PhD students, offices for 11 post-doctoral fellows, researchers and international visitors. It also consists of two seminar rooms, two meeting rooms, a Social Sciences Computing Hub, a Special Collections Reading Room and a major exhibition space.

The new Psychology building, provides world-class facilities for researchers and academics, allowing them access to the best standard of laboratories, psychology research resources and infrastructure

It will also enable further development of the School of Psychology’s strong teaching and research agenda.

Speaking at NUIG, Minister Quinn said “The investment we celebrate today is a very welcome enrichment of facilities to support the humanities and social sciences at NUI Galway.”

“The Hardiman Research Building is a unique platform for digital humanities and social sciences research in Ireland and will further develop NUI Galway’s reputation as a major international research centre in the field of digital humanities. While the new home for the School of Psychology further enhances NUI Galway's ability to produced highly-qualified and trained psychologists for the health, education and social services sectors – bringing benefits to wider society.”

Minister Quinn congratulated Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, his academic and administrative colleagues, the funders and all those involved in bringing this project to fruition.

Earlier in the day, the Minister paid a courtesy visit to Claregalway National School where he met the staff and pupils of the school.

The Minister will also address the Annual Conference of the Joint Management Body (JMB) and the Association of management of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCSS) in the afternoon.

The Minister is expected to discuss issues relevant to school managers such as school leadership and the new JCSA