As Dublin sees off another summer, the university slowly rouses for a new year. In Tallaght in West Dublin, the first of the new student intake is packed and ready to move. Lynn Ruane is the first president of the Trinity Student Union ever to set up home on the campus with a family in tow. She and her two daughters are leaving her mother’s house in Killinarden for the big move into town. It will be a big year in this family’s life. Lynn is not alone. On Fresher’s Week, Trinity’s Front Square is mobbed by newcomers as it becomes a recruitment battleground for over 100 clubs and societies competing to sign up new members. And policing the rules of engagement is Trinity stalwart, Joseph O’Gorman. Meanwhile, Trinity Professor Luke O’Neill is one of just 50 scientists in the world who is a Fellow of the Royal Society, following in the footsteps of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. His is at the cutting edge of global research yet he still experiences simple nerves as one of his star PhD students undergoes his robust final examinations. The Provost’s House, situated at Number One Grafton Street is the only residence on Dublin’s main thoroughfare. It has been the home of the Provost, the head of Trinity, for more than 250 years. The programme spends a day at home with Patrick Prendergast and his family.
Second in a four-part series going behind the scenes at Dublin's Trinity College. Winter has come to Trinity, as the students settle in to their new academic year.
Series going behind the scenes at Dublin's Trinity College. As the New Year dawns, the staff and students face down the January blues and get back to work.
As summer arrives, the academic calendar winds towards its conclusion, and Lynn Ruane approaches the climax of her time as Student Union president.
