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Two DCU students, Stephen Cluxton and Bryan Cullen, have been selected to play for Ireland against Australia in the forthcoming International Rules series which wiill be played in Croke Park on 17 and 24 October. The panel is made up of 26 players in total, 13 of whom will be playing for Ireland for the first time in an international series.

Bryan is a fourth year student on the DCU Sports Science and Health degree programme and will be playing his first match for Ireland in this international rules series. Stephen Cluxton, who plays in goal, is a third year student on the BSc in Science Education programme at DCU and won the Young Personality of the Year Award at the 2002 RTE/Hibernian Sports ceremony.

Dr Niall Moyna, the Head of the Centre for Sports Science and Health, said this is a tremendous honour for DCU. "This is the first time that two students who represent their university team have been chosen to represent their country at international level. Stephen and Bryan are members of the DCU football team and also represent the Dublin county team; now they will be playing together at international level. This is a particularly wonderful achievement for Bryan, who is the youngest member of the panel. He has played for the Dublin team for two years and was on the team that won the All-Ireland two years ago. Another point worth mentioning is that Bryan is also captain of the DCU football team this year".

Both Bryan and Stephen have been awarded GAA scholarships, which is just one DCU initiative to encourage young sports stars to attend the university. The scheme is open to players of gaelic games who show exceptional promise and is intended to help athletes reach their full potential in their chosen sport.