A Laois basketball player was among those recently awarded a prestigious Sports Scholarship at Dublin City University (DCU).
Ciara Byrne from Portlaoise is studying Actuarial Maths in the capital, a course which opens many doors for a career in the financial industry.
Byrne has won multiple All-Ireland titles with the Portlaoise Panthers and Scoil Chríost Rí before representing her country on the international stage.
She has previously won both Young Player of the Year and U-19 Girls Player of the Year at the Basketball Ireland Awards.
As well as being a fantastic basketballer Byrne is also a fine Gaelic footballer and camogie player, representing the Laois minors in both codes.
DCU’s Sport Scholarship programme is athlete-led, where a network of support services and expertise are tailored to the individual needs of the athlete.
The programme grades support depending on the athlete’s achievement, potential and needs, with the objective of remaining flexible to support the diverse needs of the athlete.
The first DCU Sport Scholarships were awarded in 1996 in the form of GAA scholarships, and have now expanded to include a wide range of sports such as Athletics, Hockey, Rugby and Soccer.
DCU has recently been fully re-accredited by Sport Ireland for their Student Athlete Support programme.
This recognises best practice in the area of dual career athletes supports combining elite sport and third level education extremely manageable to dual-career athletes.
James Galvin, Director of Sport at DCU said: “Sport and physical activity is at the heart of the student experience at DCU, and we are delighted to recognise the outstanding performances of our elite athletes through our scholarship programme.
“The sports scholarships for elite student athletes reinforce the University’s strong commitment to helping students thrive.”
Congratulating the scholarship recipients, Professor Dáire Keogh, President of DCU, said: “Balancing academic and sporting excellence is not an easy path to take.
“By supporting your sporting and academic needs, we hope to deliver on the University’s promise to provide a transformative student experience that helps you achieve your goals and ambitions in both fields.”
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