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Eloise Sherrard talks to the Fashion Soc founders of Campus Couture and how the initiative promotes community and creativity.
Our annual guide to who’s who in Trinity is back and better than ever! We profile Trinity’s 20 most notable, and notorious, students.
Ella Sexton explores whether the stereotypical student lifestyle parties and perfect grades is sustainable, or simply too good to be true in features, page 6 »
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Cleo Daly asks: “Where do we draw the line? What exactly separates porn from art?”
universitytimes.ie
Volume XV, Issue I
Monday 18 September, 2023
USI: Increased College Spaces “Futile”, “Populist” Amid Accommodation Crisis Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
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he Union of Students in Ireland has said that increasing the number of third-level places without extra accommodation and services is a “populist” and “futile” move by Government. In a press release, Minister for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris celebrated the increased allocation of more than 460 additional health care places at higher education institutions for the coming academic year.
Additionally, alternative routes to higher education have been piloted this year with 23 new degree courses created across healthcare, enterprise, ICT and creative sectors in further education institutions, which will commence in September 2023. On completion of the new courses in colleges of further education, the students have the opportunity to progress to a higher education institution to finish their education and obtain Level 8 degrees. This year’s CAO Round 1 of offers saw 59% of students receiving their first choice of Level 8 course, a jump of 5% from last year’s 54%. USI’s Deputy President and Vice
Eight Trinity Courses Exceed 600 CAO Points Clara Roche EDITOR
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rinity will make 3,784 Round One offers to CAO applicants today, two thirds of which will be the student’s first preference. The University received 10,862 first preference applications this year, down from a record high of 11,091 in 2022. In total, 22,354 students, constituting a quarter of CAO applicants, submitted applications to
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increasing third-level places gives [the] government the chance to have positive headlines on CAO day,
Taking Back Trinity: TCDSU Blockade the Book of Kells
» PHOTO BY ELLA O’BRIEN FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES
Sex Education
Hosanna Boulter examines the price of studying in ireland, and what it suggests for students living at home and living alone. PAGE 3 »
Clara Roche reviews the updated SPHE curriculum, and outlines what leaving cert students can expect from mandatory sex education, PAGE 3 »
B2 SPORT
President for Academic Affairs, Bryan O’Mahony, criticised the optics of this move, stating that “simply
B12 FILM & TV
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B6 ART
R2 LITERATURE
R3
OPINION
B8 FASHION
R1 MUSIC
R5
EDITORIAL
B8 FOOD
R7 THEATRE
R4
The Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union and the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation staged a protest at the Long Room entrance in opposition to College’s decision to increase the price of student accommodation by the maximum legal limit. Read more in news, page 2 »
Funding Announced to Create More Evening Events for Young People Hosanna Boulter NEWS EDITOR
Editor: Clara Roche Volume XV, Issue I ISSN: 2013-261X Phone: (01) 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Website: universitytimes.ie
erwise, students are being given false expectations that will not be matched in reality, which in our opinion, is doing them a complete disservice”. “When a student can’t afford their next meal or needs to work long hours to meet their college and accommodation costs, we have failed those students. Just increasing places year-on-year, with no backup is a populist and futile move.” In August, USI highlighted in their submission to a Review of the Private Residential Rental Sector how the “serious issues with student accommodation are critically and negatively affecting the student experience in Ireland”.
the University. Points cut-offs for single honours courses dropped by an average of 12 points, while requirements for joint honours courses rose by an average of 26. Last year, points fell by an average of 3.5 across courses. Places in four single honours courses were allocated by random selection to students who achieved the minimum points requirement, compared to nine in 2022 and 17 in 2021. In a statement, Vice Provost Orla Sheils said she was “delighted”
Cost of Living
NEWS
PHOTO BY ALEX CONNOLLY FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES
but without proper accommodation provision and adequate investment in colleges and universities, it is not going to achieve the aim of opening-up access to third-level qualifications”. O’Mahony further elaborated that “we already know how bad the accommodation situation is, but these extra places did not come with one extra student bed. Nor did they come with extra university or college staff or extra mental health counsellors. USI is in favour of increasing places, as long as they come with increased resources and supports and properly funded third-level institutions that can actually cater to their needs. Oth-
This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Students’ Union, but maintains a mutually agreed policy of editorial independence.
To contact UT, write to: The Editor, The University Times, 6 Trinity College Dublin 2
O
n Tuesday, 29th August 2023, Catherine Martin T.D., Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, announced a new Night-Time Economy Youth Initiative. The €119,000 funding package is aimed at providing events for
young people to attend, as well as venues for upcoming young artists to perform in. The funding will support more than 70 nighttime events across Ireland, which are aimed at young people in the 14- to 24-year-old age bracket. Allocation of funding has been decided based on whether the organisations or venues have a history of working with young people. The events are expected to take place from September to
December this year. A variety of events will be on offer such as open mic nights, improv, comedy, DJ workshops and sets as well as singer-songwriter nights. The exact details of most of the events are yet to be released. This scheme is the latest step that the government is taking in response to the recommendations from last year’s Night-Time Economy Report. The report highlighted the need to “increase opportunities for young
people to engage in the NightTime Economy, and specifically those activities which are not alcohol-based”. Katherine Licken and John McCarthy, co-chairs of the NightTime Economy Taskforce, have previously highlighted how the nighttime sector has been “badly hit by COVID-19”. They also specified the need for “innovative solutions” such as this new CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
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