Dress Up and support Christmas Jumper Day for Focus Ireland
Embrace the festive spirit and make a difference this holiday season by participating in Christmas Jumper Day for Focus Ireland. This annual campaign encourages individuals, groups, and organisations to don their favourite Christmas jumpers and organize fun activities to raise funds for Focus Ireland’s crucial work in tackling homelessness. This year, the appeal is not…
Education Magazine
Interview: Maureen Kennelly Director of The Arts Council
Among the big ticket items announced in Leinster House as part of Budget 2024 was the news that funding of the Arts Council has reached €134 million. That’s serious money, up from an annual €75m in 2019. Why, when there are so many competing needs, are we spending so much money on the arts? Who…
DCU researchers reveal commuter clean air app
A new app in development at the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at Dublin City University could offer pedestrians and cyclists a 17.87 per cent reduction in pollution exposure, initial tests have shown. The team at DCU used data analysis; refining and supplementing the publicly available Google Air Quality dataset for Dublin; to…
New profile of students with a disability in higher education
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has launched the first profile of students with a disability in higher education in Ireland. This profile compiles data from the last three academic years. This report provides a first glance at the profile of students who report a disability in Irish higher education institutions. Understanding the profile of students…
Mother and daughter pen dual language children’s book
Mother and daughter duo, Ånne Hoey and Leah Egan have been telling stories for over 50 years combined. School teacher and storyteller Ånne has over 40 years of working with children as a primary school teacher. Leah is an award-winning actor, director, narrator and playwright with over a decade of experience in the audiobook, theatre…
UL to participate in a unique new large-scale Dutch-Irish offshore renewables project
University of Limerickis one of the stakeholders in the Dutch-Irish research project HybridLabs, to help accelerate the deployment of offshore renewable technologies for both electricity and hydrogen production. It comes on foot of the declaration by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that the Shannon Estuary can become the ‘green digital powerhouse for the country’. A unique…
Hubs offering electric cars, e-bikes and e-cargo bikes to test potential of shared e-mobility to decarbonise transport
Atlantic Technological University together with Trinity College Dublin, ESB and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, will lead a €1.35m shared electric mobility project. This project will deliver four shared electric mobility hubs in Dublin, Galway, Sligo and Donegal with each hub providing charging infrastructure, electric cars, ebikes and ecargo bikes for shared use. The project will assess community…
Fund a publicly-run Early Years and School Age Care system by 2029 – Early Childhood Ireland
Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) is calling for children to be at the heart of Early Years and School Age Care in Ireland. ECI says that a large body of international evidence has established that high-quality care experiences for children provide long-lasting benefits for them, their families, and their communities in their 2024 budget submission document….
UCC opens state-of-the-art high-performance gym
A High-Performance Strength and Conditioning Gym has been opened at UCC’s Mardyke Arena in July. The High-Performance Gym aims to be a centre of excellence, dedicated to empowering athletes and teams to reach their highest potential. Through cutting-edge training, research, innovation, and holistic athlete development, the gym will provide student athletes and teams with the…
University of Galway Access Centre
Supporting all to reach their full educational potential Universities are posh places for posh people. This old hat used to be true, now is partially true and has largely been overcome by middle Ireland. More than half of 25 to 64-year-olds in Ireland have a third-level qualification, the highest in the EU according to CSO…
UNESCO calls for new rules to curtail or ban smartphones from schools
“The digital revolution holds immeasurable potential but, just as warnings have been voiced for how it should be regulated in society, similar attention must be paid to the way it is used in education. “Its use must be for enhanced learning experiences and for the well-being of students and teachers, not to their detriment. Keep…
Body image and why it matters
Body image is a key aspect of youth mental health. Unfortunately research in Ireland indicates that many young people are dissatisfied with how they look (Dooley et al., 2019)* This is concerning as negative body image is linked to higher levels of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and to substance and alcohol misuse, self harm and…
Dr Linda Mulligan interview – A fusion of science and justice
By Niall Gormley Watching television is probably not what guidance counsellors advise their charges to spend their time on but for Ireland’s Chief State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan, TV detectives were an inspiration for a career based on curiosity and discovery. “I didn’t realise forensics pathology was really a career until I was sixteen and…
Applications are open for 36,000 young people born in 2005 to receive a free travel pass to explore Europe
The European Commission has launched the DiscoverEU programme autumn call, thanks to which 36,000 young people will receive a free travel pass to explore Europe. The application round will end on Wednesday 18 October at 11 am Irish time. To win a travel pass, young people are invited to apply on the European Youth Portal…
First-Ever Neurodiversity in Education Conference Invites Educators to Foster Inclusive Practices in Kilkenny
On Saturday, 7th October 2023, Kilkenny will welcome educators, parents, and caregivers to Ireland’s inaugural Neurodiversity in Education Conference, a professional event curated to enhance the inclusivity and support for neurodivergent students of all ages. Under the theme “Inclusive Practice,” the conference aims to be a nexus of knowledge and resource sharing among Ireland’s educator…
Government postpones plans for teacher-based assessment of Leaving Cert, blaming AI
Norma Foley ( Minister for Education) has postponed her plans to introduce teacher-based assessment for the Leaving Cert, blaming Artificial Intelligence. In her statement yesterday morning, Foley announced that the Department of Education was accelerating changes to the Leaving Cert Cycle, with the introduction of nine new and revised subjects coming two years earlier than originally…
CAO offers show major improvement in matching student choices
By Niall Gormley Almost 60 per cent of students received their first preference choice in the Round One offers from the CAO for Level 8 courses. This represents a 5 per cent increase in first preference offers over last year. Around 85 per cent of applicants received an offer from their first three preferences. In…
Tips To Prepare For The First Day Of School
Whether your child is just beginning preschool or primary school, or starting into a new school year as a returning student, there’s plenty that can be done to prepare for the school year ahead, including checking in about their anxieties and concerns. As Summer winds down, it’s totally natural for kids to experience nervousness after having…
Back To Education Allowance (BTEA) – What is it, and how do you qualify?
What is the Back To Education Allowance and how do you qualify? The BTEA is a supplement for people who are unemployed, single parenting or with a disability already on other payments who want to go back to education. It is valid for courses that start in Ireland or Northern Ireland, but it can be…
Biopharmaceutical company AbbVie launches new schools prize to help spark an interest in STEM
Deirdre Clune MEP recently joined employees of the biopharmaceutical company AbbVie to launch a science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM)-focused schools prize The AbbVie STEM Prize encourages engagement in STEM-related learning. The company said it wished to showcase the exciting and diverse educational and career opportunities that can be unlocked for young people who develop an interest in these subjects….