Latest news with #TrinityCollegeDublin
The Journal
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Journal
Applications open for the free college courses on offer for the next academic year
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW open for Springboard, an initiative that offers free and heavily subsidised college courses. The courses on offer for this year were announced last week . They are mainly available in areas aligning with national economic priorities such as infrastructure planning, sustainable building, renewable energy, digital skills, cyber security, and artificial intelligence. You can view here the full list of courses made available. The courses are provided 'at certificate, degree, and masters level leading to qualifications in areas where there are employment opportunities in the economy'. Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless said that the initiative is 'one of the most impactful' investments made by the government in further education. The courses on offer are designed to respond to evolving skills demands. 'It offers thousands of learners the chance to upskill or reskill in areas where Ireland needs talent from artificial intelligence to infrastructure planning to cybersecurity,' he said. Lawless added that Springboard is meant to make upskilling more accessible and achievable for everyone. Advertisement It will deliver 7,719 places across 249 courses for the 2025/26 academic year. All courses will commence between 1 July and 31 October 2025. Courses are flexible and accessible, with 96% delivered online or in blended format, designed to support working professionals, jobseekers, and those returning to further education alike, the department said. Some of the universities offering courses that are covered include Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, University College Cork, University of Galway, University of Limerick, and University College Dublin. A large number of places are also available in technological universities and institutes, with a large volume available for applications in ATU campuses across Ireland. You can check your eligibility for the initiative here . You must have a valid PPS number and be living full-time in the Republic of Ireland. 'Applicants currently unemployed, or seeking to return to the workforce after a career break to care for loved ones, qualify for a free place on a higher education course,' a statement said. If you are in employment, 90% of the total fees are covered by Springboard, with the remaining 10% covered either by the applicant or their employer. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Yahoo
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
I thought my life would change when I moved to Ireland. Unfortunately, I never felt I belonged, and I moved home a year later.
I dreamed of moving to Ireland for many years. I got my chance when I attended Trinity College. Living in Dublin, I faced unexpected challenges including high rent and political unrest. I eventually started to feel like I didn't belong and decided to move home after my studies. I remember sitting on the floor of my childhood bedroom, surrounded by books, daydreaming of a life somewhere far away. Somewhere quieter, greener, more poetic. Ireland somehow became that place in my mind. I imagined walking the same streets as Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde and spending Sundays at local bookstores. I know it sounds overly romanticized, maybe even naive, but I didn't care. I wanted that life, and I spent years working toward it. In 2022, I took my shot. At the time, Dublin was a popular choice for international students. When I got accepted to Trinity College Dublin, the alma mater of writers I'd long admired, it felt like everything was falling into place. The first time I walked through Trinity's front square, I stood there taking it all in. I couldn't believe I was actually there. Then came the Long Room, the famous library that looked like it belonged in Hogwarts. Standing there, surrounded by so many ancient books, I was in awe. I was lucky to live and study in a place with so much history. It felt like I'd stepped into the very story I'd been imagining in my head for years. While at Trinity, I met people from all over the world, with their stories and perspectives that expanded my own. It felt like I was finally starting to build the future I'd always dreamed of. The local housing crisis hit me hard. After weeks of searching, I ended up in a tiny room that barely fit a bed, paying more than I could reasonably afford. I came to Dublin with a plan and knew it'd be expensive, but nothing prepared me for how disorienting those first weeks would feel. Just when I was finally starting to feel settled, I started to realize that Dublin didn't feel as welcoming as I'd hoped. Almost every day, I saw strangers yelling at each other on the streets, fights breaking out on buses, and racial slurs spoken like everyday language. Teenagers — some shockingly young — seemed to roam with reckless confidence, bullying people and causing harm without any fear of getting caught. At first, I thought it was just this way in the city center. Everyone warned me, "It gets rough there." So, I changed my routes and kept my head down. Then one afternoon, in a quiet, upscale neighborhood, a stranger suddenly shouted a hateful insult in my ear. I froze. No one intervened. That moment made it clear to me — if something like this could happen there, in broad daylight, it wasn't just the "rough" parts of the city. It was the whole city. I graduated in September 2023 and had renewed my post-study work visa. I was still hopeful, ready to see where life in Dublin might take me. But two months later, I was working late when my phone buzzed with a notification from a news app. There'd been a stabbing outside a school, injuring five people, including three children and now riots were breaking out across the city. Reports on social media had claimed the attacker was an undocumented immigrant, and thoses posts waere enough to spark a wave of anger. Within hours, O'Connell Street, just minutes from where I worked, was unrecognizable. People gathered, not in mourning, but in rage. They set buses and trams on fire, smashed shop windows, and looted whatever they could carry. I left work thinking I'd get home quickly. But the buses had stopped. Guards had shut down the roads. It took me three long, tense hours to get back. I kept checking my phone, watching videos of places I knew being torn apart. And I kept thinking, I don't feel safe here. Maybe I never really did. That night shifted my perspective. I arrived full of hope, ready to build a life here. But suddenly, I felt uncertain — like I didn't quite belong. I want to say that Dublin let me down, but maybe it's more complicated than that. It gave me so much to be thankful for: an education, memories, great friends. But it also slowly took away my sense of belonging and I finally decided to move back home. And maybe that's not a loss. Maybe part of growing up is learning when to let go of the dream you once chased so you can make room for something better. Read the original article on Business Insider
The Journal
a day ago
- Business
- The Journal
Three-quarters of Irish universities fall in global rankings - but TCD still best in the country
THREE-QUARTERS OF Irish universities have fallen in global rankings, but Trinity College Dublin is still rated the best in the country. The rankings are based on quality of education, employability, quality of faculty, and research. Ireland's overall slip in the Global 2000, which is released today, is mainly due to research performance amid intensified global competition from well-funded institutions, the Centre for World University Rankings said. University College Dublin (UCD) is the only Irish university that ranked higher on the list than it did last year. Here's how they're all faring: Trinity College Dublin – 259th (250th in 2024) University College Dublin – 299th (301st last year) University College Cork – 545th (542nd) University of Galway – 707th (668th) University of Limerick – 926th (925th) Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – 1013rd (no change) Dublin City University – 1151st (1134th) Maynooth University – 1323rd (1287th) Advertisement Harvard is the top university in the world for the fourteenth year in a row. However, other US institutions have declined in some areas amid slashed government funding and disputes over academic freedom and free speech. In the top ten, Harvard is followed by two other private US institutions, MIT and Stanford. The UK's Cambridge and Oxford are the world's highest-rated public universities, coming fourth and fifth. The rest of the global top ten are also private American universities: Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Yale, and Chicago. For the first time, China has surpassed the US as the country with the most universities in the Global 2000. While Oxford and Cambridge maintain their high rankings, the overall outlook for Britain is unfavourable, as 75% of universities have fallen down the list. The top ten universities in Europe this year are: Cambridge (UK, 4th), Oxford (UK, 5th), PSL (France, 19th), UCL (UK, 20th), Imperial College London (UK, 28th), Paris City University (France, 29th), ETH Zurich (Switzerland, 32nd), Paris Saclay (France, 34th), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (France, 35th), and Copenhagen (Denmark, 38th). Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
50th anniversary of Seamus Heaney's landmark collection on Troubles to be marked
A three-day conference at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast will bring together experts from around the world to discuss the significance of the Nobel laureate poet's landmark work. The event, in partnership with Trinity College Dublin, takes place from June 5-7 and will also mark the first anniversary of the Belfast venue. Heaney, who died in 2013, was one of the world's best known modern poets. Pulitzer prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and Professor Edna Longley will be among authors, academics and poets discussing the significance of North 50 years on. There will also be a family friendly traditional music session and a screening of the documentary Heaney in Limboland, made for TV in 1970 and featuring Heaney's views on the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Northern Ireland. Upon publication in 1975, the American poet Robert Lowell said North represented 'a new kind of political poetry by the best Irish poet since WB Yeats' and the anthology went on to win awards including the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize and the WH Smith Memorial Prize. Heaney himself admitted the collection took a 'hammering' from other quarters, closer to home, for its representation of violence and gender politics. Many academics consider it to be a key moment in the evolution of Heaney from a significant Irish poet to a poet of international standing, culminating in his winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre, Professor Glenn Patterson said: 'Whichever way you come at it, in admiration, in awe or in search of an argument, there is no understanding poetry from these islands in the past half century, without North. 'There are not many books, of any kind, that merit an 'at 50' conference, but North seems only to grow in significance with every year that passes, and with every year that passes to attract new readers, and new critical thinking.' The poet's daughter Catherine Heaney, said: 'We are proud and honoured that the 50th anniversary of North is being marked with this conference, alongside Faber's reissue of the volume in its original jacket. 'The publication was such a seminal moment in my father's life and career and it is testament to its staying power that, five decades on, it continues to resonate with readers and inspire scholarly debate.' Dr Stephen O'Neill from Trinity College Dublin said: 'Written under the strain of what Seamus Heaney called 'a very high pressure', North was a landmark in his writing career. 'It was and is also a landmark in criticism, as a subject for many of the leading critics of Irish literature then and now. 'Organised to coincide with Faber's anniversary republication of the volume, the conference is a chance to reflect upon the impact of Heaney's fourth collection and reassess its reception.' All events will take place at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's. Attendance is free but registration is required.
South Wales Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
50th anniversary of Seamus Heaney's landmark collection on Troubles to be marked
A three-day conference at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast will bring together experts from around the world to discuss the significance of the Nobel laureate poet's landmark work. The event, in partnership with Trinity College Dublin, takes place from June 5-7 and will also mark the first anniversary of the Belfast venue. Heaney, who died in 2013, was one of the world's best known modern poets. Pulitzer prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and Professor Edna Longley will be among authors, academics and poets discussing the significance of North 50 years on. There will also be a family friendly traditional music session and a screening of the documentary Heaney in Limboland, made for TV in 1970 and featuring Heaney's views on the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Northern Ireland. Upon publication in 1975, the American poet Robert Lowell said North represented 'a new kind of political poetry by the best Irish poet since WB Yeats' and the anthology went on to win awards including the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize and the WH Smith Memorial Prize. Heaney himself admitted the collection took a 'hammering' from other quarters, closer to home, for its representation of violence and gender politics. Many academics consider it to be a key moment in the evolution of Heaney from a significant Irish poet to a poet of international standing, culminating in his winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre, Professor Glenn Patterson said: 'Whichever way you come at it, in admiration, in awe or in search of an argument, there is no understanding poetry from these islands in the past half century, without North. 'There are not many books, of any kind, that merit an 'at 50' conference, but North seems only to grow in significance with every year that passes, and with every year that passes to attract new readers, and new critical thinking.' The poet's daughter Catherine Heaney, said: 'We are proud and honoured that the 50th anniversary of North is being marked with this conference, alongside Faber's reissue of the volume in its original jacket. 'The publication was such a seminal moment in my father's life and career and it is testament to its staying power that, five decades on, it continues to resonate with readers and inspire scholarly debate.' Dr Stephen O'Neill from Trinity College Dublin said: 'Written under the strain of what Seamus Heaney called 'a very high pressure', North was a landmark in his writing career. 'It was and is also a landmark in criticism, as a subject for many of the leading critics of Irish literature then and now. 'Organised to coincide with Faber's anniversary republication of the volume, the conference is a chance to reflect upon the impact of Heaney's fourth collection and reassess its reception.' All events will take place at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's. Attendance is free but registration is required.
