Former Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness has been honoured by NUI Galway with the unveiling of a specially commissioned portrait at the university.
Ms McGuinness served as chair of Údarás na hOllscoile — the university’s governing authority — from February 2013 to January 2021.
The portrait, by artist Hetty Lawlor, was commissioned to “mark her exceptional contribution to NUI Galway”.
Unveiling the artwork, NUI Galway president Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh paid tribute to Ms McGuinness’s career and advocacy.
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“This portrait captures the kindness and wisdom of Catherine McGuinness, attributes which she brought to us at NUI Galway and to her life and career,” he said. “At NUI Galway our values — respect, openness, excellence and sustainability — are important to us. Our aim is that they are the lodestar for all our work as a community and for the public good. It is a privilege to have worked with someone whose life and career is the very embodiment of the essence of those values,” he added.
Ms McGuinness said: “It has been a huge honour to have worked with NUI Galway and to have helped in a small measure with the tremendous progress the university has made in recent years.
“I am also honoured to be permanently recognised with a portrait. I am grateful to all those I was fortunate enough to work with and I wish the university every success in teaching and learning, in academia and research and working for the public good.”
