`Better than sex, alcohol or drugs" - bureaucrats in Brussels might not approve, but as a slogan for an EU programme they could hardly beat it.
This was a Connemara woman's comment on the benefits of NOW (New Opportunities for Women) after she had enlisted through the Women's Studies Centre in NUI Galway.
Introduced in the centre's 10th anniversary year, this particular NOW programme represents a unique partnership. Not only does it give the lie to the notion that academics are out of touch with society's needs, it also emphasises the continued relevance of feminist issues at a time when the movement has been under some attack.
The two-year training course is being run by the WSC with Forum, the community development organisation in Letterfrack. It was oversubscribed when it was first advertised earlier this year. None of the 21 participants has received third level education.
The aim was to reach women in north-west Connemara living in disadvantaged areas and who had experienced barriers to participation in education and paid employment.
"These are the people in Irish society who have contributed so much in terms of rearing children, who may feel they have been forgotten, but who have so much more to give," says Ann Lyons, lecturer in women's studies at NUI Galway.
A preparatory course, initiated last April, provided a taster for the full programme which started in September.
"The demand far exceeded supply of places," Ms Lyons says. The EU is subsidising fees, child care, elder care and travel - and travel does not involve a 50-mile hike into Galway, but the shorter journey to the old national school in Recess.
A supplementary course for those who did not get places this time round is being run by Forum with Galway Rural Development.
The experience will provide inspiration for the WSC's annual conference next year. It is one of many activities in which the centre is involved.
Founded as the Women's Studies Forum in October 1988, the centre has gone from strength to strength. Initially, it began hosting a twice-yearly seminar series, as part of its commitment to developing public links.
Within the university, it runs a certificate diploma in women's studies, which is a non-graduate programme, and there is an option to take a full diploma.
In January 1990, the WSC initiated its first BA interdisciplinary course on gender, culture and society, which it has continued ever since. Each year, it publishes Women's Studies Review, based on the seminar proceedings.
In 1997 it received confirmation of EU funding for two ventures - NOW, and the Leonardo da Vinci Gender Equality Training (GET) project, which is designed to ensure effective and consistent implementation of European equal opportunities legislation.
The WSC has also developed links with the Galway branch of the Business Professional Women's Association, which has agreed to fund a two-year bursary for someone who could not otherwise attend college.
Once again, it reflects the WSC's commitment to making education more accessible - a commitment reflected in the university's appointment of an access officer, and the reservation of a certain number of places for those who are disadvantaged.
For even as we approach 1999, it is often women who find the barriers to work, to greater participation in society, most insurmountable. Some women's groups have recently been accused of being elitist and anachronistic.
"I think that sort of debate is useful. We can only change with fair criticism," Ms Lyons says.
But the variety of activities in which the WSC is involved does not deserve an elitist tag. Yes, the work of five Irish feminist publishing houses was presented to the university's James Hardiman library earlier this month; but it also held a highly successful art exhibition to mark its 10th birthday, which was opened by Garry Hynes of the Druid Theatre Company, and embraced women from all walks of life.
"You have only got to look at the proliferation of women's community groups in this country to see women's politics is still very vibrant," Ms Lyons emphasises. "There is a hunger out there."
And the WSC in Galway is at the heart of it.