NUI Galway

In 2014 the Equality Tribunal ruled in favor of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, granddaughter of the famous Irish feminist couple Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Francis Sheehy Skeffington, who claimed she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender during 2009. The university "unreservedly" accepted the decision that the "hiring process was flawed".[13][14] In 2015 with "widespread concern" among staff, mandatory unconscious bias training was introduced for senior staff, including heads of school and interview boards.[15] In 2017 Dr Elizabeth Tilley was deemed to have exceeded qualifications for senior lectureship following a Labour Court hearing and promoted.[16] In 2018 a further four female lecturers who had also applied for promotion in 2009 were promoted having settled their cases "amicably".[17][18]

In 2017, the gender ratio of senior NUI Galway lecturers was 60:40 in favour of men. The ratio of professorships, the most senior academic grade, was 87:13 in favor of men.[19] In 2018 the university achieved bronze status[20] in the Athena SWAN[21] recognizes a commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education and research careers.

NUI Galway has about 150 active student societies, ranging from the academic (such as archaeology, astronomy, botany, chemistry, classics, engineering, French, geography, German, Italian, law, marine, maths, medicine, microbiology, philosophy, physics, Russian and Spanish) to artistic and performing (such as choral, circus, orchestra, and the new Swiftie Soc (photography)). Religious societies (such as Christianity, Catholicism and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul) are represented, as are other lifestyles (such as veganism and organic horticulture). In addition, many of Ireland's political parties have active societies at NUI Galway, including Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green, Labour, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats.[28]

The oldest society on the campus is the Literary and Debating Society, founded in 1846.[29]

Another of NUI Galway's oldest societies is Cumann Staire. One of Europe's oldest history societies, it is a member of the Comhaltas na gCumann Staire - Irish History Students' Association and the International Students of History Association.[30]

The university's Fianna Fáil branch, Cumann de Barra, was founded in 1954, making it the oldest university political party branch in Ireland.[31] Fine Gael's youth wing was founded in the university in 1973 during the Liam Cosgrave-led Fine Gael/Labour Coalition government, with Enda Kenny and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn among those behind its establishment there.[32] Official Sinn Féin were also influential in campus politics in the 1970s, and Students Union Presidents Eamon Gilmore and Johnny Curran were party members.[33][34]

NUI Galway's Computer Society (CompSoc) is the oldest of its kind in the country, formerly established in 1977.[35][36][37][38]

Sphearheaded by the Radio Society, Flirt FM is a community radio station located on campus.

"Dram Soc" (NUI Galway's Drama Society) played a critical part in the formation of the Druid Theatre Company, Macnas and the Galway Arts Festival.[39]

GUMS, the university musical society, hosts annual musicals in the Dubhlann/Black Box Theatre.[40]

Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív and a student became involved in an altercation on the grounds of the university in 2008.[41] The following year, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was forced to flee from a public discussion at the university after being jostled by students opposed to the planned reintroduction of college fees.[42] The Christian and LGBT societies were involved in a showdown over same-sex marriage in 2014.[43] The incident was provoked by the auditor of the Christian Society, running for the position of Equality Officer in that year's student union election.[44] Earlier, in the late part of 2013, the university suspended the Legion of Mary Society after it failed to satisfactorily explain its connection to posters containing information on a Christian support group for homosexual persons.[45]

An Cumann Gaelach and An Cumann Drámaíochta are the university's main Irish language societies, following the demise of the Cumann Craic. One of the main events of the university's Cumann Gaelach, is the yearly celebration of Seachtain na Gaeilge. The society was awarded the Best New Entry Award at the Glór na nGael awards in 2011.

NUI Galway has more than 40 sports clubs based on campus, ranging from indoor sports (such as archery, badminton, fencing, weightlifting, table tennis, and squash), to water sports (such as rowing, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, and scuba diving), as well as martial arts (such as judo, karate, aikido, Muay Thai, kendo, and taekwondo), plus equestrian, triathlon, athletics, and snow sports.[46]

NUI Galway also competes in the most popular Irish field sports of association football, Gaelic football, hurling, and rugby union, as well as cricket, hockey, and lacrosse.[46]

NUI Galway GAA compete in the Sigerson Cup (Gaelic football) and the Fitzgibbon Cup (hurling). They are the second most prolific winners of the Sigerson Cup.[47]

NUI Galway RFC compete in the Connacht Senior Cup, and are the competition's most successful side with 34 wins.

NUI Galway F.C. compete in the Galway & District League.

The campus is home to a wide range of sport facilities. Facilities include Dangan Sportsground, where the university's GAA teams compete, and the Kingfisher, where Moycullen Basketball Club play their games.

In 2013, NUI Galway announced it would sponsor Connacht Rugby, the nearby professional Pro12 (now URC) rugby union team, for the following three years and would put in place a "High Performance Education Partnership" that would give players from the Connacht Rugby Academy and age-grade teams the chance to educated there. At the time of the announcement 17 members of Connacht's squad were either attending the university as students or were graduates.[48]

Within a few years of the start of NUI Galway's sponsorship of the Connacht Rugby Academy, the team had won, what was then the 2015–16 Pro12 title, for the first time by defeating Leinster in the 2016 Pro12 Grand Final. Seven players from the Connacht Rugby Academy played 55 times for their team during that campaign, with others in that squad also graduates of the Connacht Rugby Academy.[49]

The deal was renewed in 2017, covering the period until 2019.[50]

The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the university and college authorities. The president-elect for the 2022–2023 academic year is Sai Gujulla.

In February 2009, the university announced the Students' Union-run RAG week would "no longer form part of the university calendar". The President of the Students' Union expressed the belief that the decision was unjustified, citing the more than €20,000 raised for charities that year.[51]

International students make up over 12 percent of the student population at NUI Galway.[52]

• Emily Anderson - first professor of German[53]
• Nicholas Canny - historian
• Colm McDonald - professor of psychiatry
• Michael D. Higgins - sociologist, ninth President of Ireland
• William King - geologist[54]
• Alice Perry - engineer
• Gerard Quinn - jurist, specialized in international and comparative disability law and policy.[55]
• Niamh Reilly - sociologist and political scientist
• George Johnstone Stoney - physicist[56]