Four inter-county hurlers receive NUIG scholarships awards

Four well-known Clare hurlers were amongst a group presented with sports scholarships at a function at NUI, Galway last week. Conor McGrath, Liam Markham (both Cratloe), Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones) and Eamonn Glynn (Inagh-Kilnamona) are all key members of the Galway side’s Fitzgibbon Cup line-up this year.

NUI Galway offers comprehensive sports scholarships to students each year to support and develop their sporting and academic careers. As well as financial support, scholarship holders get access to NUI Galway facilities as well as physio and medical care, coaching and academic support and a range of services designed to help athletes reach the top of their sport.

The range of expertise available is from experts who have all worked with top international competitors right up to and including Olympic level.

Athletes supported by this program in recent years include Clare’s world U-23 handball champion, Diarmuid Nash; world U-23 rowing silver medallist Niall Kenny; world kickboxing silver medallist Des Leonard and Olympians such as Paul Hession, Olive Loughnane, Alan Martin and Cormac Folan. The All-Ireland finals in GAA were also strongly populated by NUI Galway sport scholarship students.

Gary Ryan, elite sports development officer at NUIG, said, “The aim of our scholarships is to provide the right supports to athletes that will not only help them to become world-class athletes but great doctors, engineers and teachers as well.”

Aaron Cunningham and Conor McGrath were part of the Clare team that won the All-Ireland U-21 championship in 2012. Together with Liam Markham, they are members of the current Clare senior hurling panel. Eamonn Glynn was part of the Clare U-21 panel in 2009 when they won All-Ireland honours.

This year, the NUI Galway Soccer Club will present a scholarship in memory of the late Eamonn ‘Chick’ Deacy. Chick, formerly of Galway United, won an English League title with Aston Villa in 1981. He won four Irish international caps and received an honorary Masters of Arts degree from NUI Galway in 2009.
The first recipient of this award is Gabriel Darcy, who is studying physics and medical physics.